Uncut - November 2021

SIOUXSIE: BANSHEES REBORN) |

COURTNEY BARNETT

“TRUST YOUR GUT!”

LEE “SCRATCH? PERRY

FAREWELL TO THEUPSETTER
< ; THE REPLACEMENTS
à 7 "RECKLESS ABANDON!”
3 | 4 NANCY SINATRA
= ы START WALKING!"
ATHEWAR ON DRUGS

HIGH TIMES

THE EVERLY BROTHERS

BY RAY AND DAVE DAVIES

"Welllneverkeptadollarpastsunset/Italwaysburnedaholeinmypants"

"VEbeenthinking alot recently about Martin Scorsese's
concert film Shine A Light, and whatit said (and still says)
about The Rolling Stones.

Armed with a multitude of cameras, Scorsese followed the

Stones around the stage of New York's Beacon Theatre in 2008,

getting up close to the band as they played for almost two
hours. For anyone who's seen the Stones in a field or arena - distant
figures onatiny stage — Scorsese's film was revelatory forits
proximity to the band as they spiritedly went about their business.
Critically, though, in its intimacy and detail, Shine A Light wasa
fascinating portrait of how a band can grow old and make us rethink
how weare expected to grow old.

Incontrast to the Peter Panisms of Jagger, Richards and Wood,
Scorsese gave us theorderly pragmatism of Charlie, donning his
fleeceatthe end (as he did at every Stones showIsaw). At thetime of
Scorsese's film, Charlie was 67 years old, playing just as brilliantly as

Onthecover:
TheRollingStonesby
GeredMankowitz
OBowstirLtd 2021/
Mankowitz.com
SiouxsieSiouxby Fin
Costello/Redferns

Charlie Watts
subscribers' cover
by JohnStoddart/
Popperfoto via
Gettylmages

he had done for the previous 50 years. A YouTube clip of the band's
performance of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” at the Beacon, taken solely from
the camera trained on Charlie, shows you just how great he was.

Conspicuously, the film also radiated a genuine, heartening joy
among the four Stones, serving as a powerful elegy to an enduring
friendship and a shared calling.

All thesethings, of course, have taken on an added poignancy in the
last few weeks. While the future of the Stones remains unclear

beyond their upcoming tour dates, join us as we

celebrate the life and work of the incomparable
Charlie Watts. The heartbeat of the Stones, and
so much more besides.
Michael Bonner, Editor. Follow me on Twitter @michaelbonner

(Instant Karma!
Lee"Scratch" Perry, Billy Bragg,
BadBadNotGood, Spencer Cullum

м Emmylou Harris
An Audience With...

18 New Albums
Including: Buffalo Nichols, The War On
Drugs,LaLuz, My Morning Jacket, Grouper

36 Ihe Archive
Including: The dB's, Bob Dylan, Faust,
JoniMitchell, The Beau Brummels

50 Courtney Barnett
Abrandnew lockdown album from Oz

56 Ihe Everly Brothers
WiththedeathofDonat84, wereflecton
theearlyrock'n'roll duo's pioneering music,

Prana ele eee

while Kinks Ray and Dave Daviesrecallthe
brothers vastimpact onageneration

62 Ihe Replacements
The'Matsdragusdown with theminto their
chaoticearly 1980s beginnings

68 Nancy Sinatra
The Making Of..."These Boots Are
Made For Walkin”

72Shannon Lay
The former LA punk whonowmerges
British folk-rock, spiritual jazz andindie

78 Ethan Miller AttumBy Album

82Siouxsie & The Banshees

In1979 the bandrose fromthe dead and

cutatrioofclassic albums, including 1981
masterpiece Juju. Butat what cost?

Subscribeonlineatmagazines.bandlabtechnologies.com
Orcall01371 851882 andquotecodeUCPR2021

88 The Rolling Stones

AstheStones "God-given" drummer
passes, wesalutethe geniusof Charlie
WattsandhowheturnedtheRollin Stones
into TheRollingStones
102 Live wilcoatRedRocks

105 books
Barry Adamson, Eddie VanHalen

106 l'ilms Mandibles Gagarine

108 DVD, Blu ray and TV
The VU, The Beatles And India

по Not Fade Away Obituaries
112 Letters... Plusthe Uncut crossword

HAN ly Life In Music Ruban Nielson

Forenquiries please call:01371 851882 or email:support@uncut.co.uk.

NOVEMBER 2021 -UNCUT -3

INSTANT KARMA!

THIS MONTH'S REVELATIONS FROM THE WORLD OF UNCUT
WITH... Billy Bragg BadBadNotGood & Arthur Verocai Spencer Cullum

PYMCA/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP
VIAGETTY IMAGES; ECHOES/REDFERNS

LEE "SCRATCH" PERRY | 1936-2021

The “crazy genius’ whohelped take reggae global
while rewiring our brains forever

GAVE Bob Marley

reggae asa present,”

said Lee "Scratch"

Perry, with a

mischievous grin. *He
live with me for months. I give him
songs to record. I give him rhythms.
Igive himall my love. He waslike a
brother to mein some other life gone
by. Me think if he recognised me as
abrother, he wouldn't have died.
Нега still be here now."

Perry's mentorship of Jamaica's
biggest cultural export remains the
starting point for any investigation
of Lee "Scratch" Perry, the producer,
songwriter and

vocalist who has died aged 85. But it | in the Kingston suburb of

was just one part ofa 60-year career
thatsaw him transform Jamaican
music, studio technology and the
role ofthe producer. He was an early

exponent of
sampling,
integrating found
sounds - rain,
flowing water,

Washington Gardens and where,
between 1973 and 1978, he recorded
everyone from Max Romeo to The
Congos and Robert Palmer to Linda
McCartney. When asked why he felt
the need to burn the studio down in
1979, he calmly explained that it
was anecessity because it was being
trashed by hangers-on.

“Iwas being expected to support
all these ragamuffins, all these dirty
people,” he said. “I’m very scared
of bacteria. Sometimes it gets
dangerous and becomes fronteria.”

In 1989, he moved to Switzerland
with his third wife Mireille
Campbell-Ruegg, a Zurich
businesswoman who served as
muse, patron, agent and business
manager for his last three decades.
Whenlinterviewed Perry at their
home in Einsiedeln in 2002, in

crying babies advance of him curating that year's
- into his Meltdown Festival at London's
productions. Southbank Centre, he was full of
He pioneered gnomic utterances, drawing
dub mixes, connections between his
removing vocals, shamanistic music and his love of
emphasisingbass | Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Inspector
and shrouding Gadget and the science fiction of
music in reverb. Steven Spielberg. He also heaped
“Thestudiomust | praiseon Kate Bush.
bea living “She the only angel left in the
machine,” he music business,” he said. “Freddie
said. “It must Mercury, Sisq6, all devils. And
have a life of who’s that drummer guy? Phil
its own.” Collins. He's the same - devil.”
Hisownliving When asked to confirm some of
studio was the the more eccentric stories about
Scratchathis Black Ark, the himself, Perry shrugged and
legendary 12ft- acknowledged that they were
by-12 ft shed mostly all true. Yes, he did bury

that Perry built

Adrian Sherwood'stelevisionin > |

|
|

Caribbean
King: Perry
in2003

ОА : ғ

PAULBERGEN/GETTY IMAGES;DAVID CORIO/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES; JOHNHOLLINGSWORTH

Nosmoke without fire:
Lee"Scratch” Perry
performsinZaandam,
Netherlands, in2018

the back garden because he
thought it was evil. Yes, he really
did walk backwards around
Jamaica for a week (“That’s the
only way I can get my energy
back... like rewinding a tape").
Yes, he did repaint Chris
Blackwell's flat because he
didn'tlike the vibes (*I also fill
up his fridge with rocks! To
kaput his energy, confuse his
brain..."). Yes, he did writea
letter to the Japanese prime
minister to appeal for clemency
when Paul McCartney was
busted for marijuana possession
(“Paul is a good man. Very
clean”). Yes, he did build a duck
pond in his Black Ark studio
(“Ducks were here when
dinosaurs ruled the world – of
course I must make room for
them in my studio").

Perry often likened his music
toa spaceship: something
beyond earthly realms. Yet
even his indulgence of cosmic,
Afrofuturist philosophy had
its limits. At the mention of Sun
Ra’s claim to be born on the
planet Saturn, Perry sounded
slightly incredulous. “Is that
what he say?” asked Perry.
“Saturn? He’s just saying that to
be stupid.” JOHNLEWIS

6-UNCUT- NOVEMBER2021

The Orb's
reveals whatit was
like tocollaborate with
Lee "Scratch" Perry on
2012's The Orbserver
In TheStar House

“I GOT invited to
do some warm-
up shows with
him and Mad
Professor in the
2000s. Every
winter we'd ring
him up to seeif
he'd do something with The Orb –
and finally after eight years he did.
He came to Thomas [Fehlmann|'s
studio outin the German
countryside. There was nothing
there: no shops, no distractions,
only nature. Which was perfect,
because we just mic'ed him up,
went for a walk around a lake
and recorded him talking.
Incredible moments.

“He came over to do an EP, but we
ended up doing 16 tracks. Prolific
doesn't coverit. His motormouth
came to the fore; it was a constant

ALEXPATERSON

Fiverevolutionary

productions
TH
ин UPSETTERS
BOB
Е MARLEY
z & THE
“ГІ 5 [WAILERS
(МИР!
Fw x
MAX

х E Ете

stream of babble — Allen Ginsberg
on loads and loads of marijuana!
The man wasn't even smoking at
the time, but the stuff was in there.

“We did discuss what we were
trying to do and it wasa big
argument all the time, but we got
by. Heisn't The Upsetter for no
reason. But I knew that, and he
clicked that I knew that, and after
two days he gave up trying to upset
me. І grew up in Battersea, I get the
gist, I know what you're trying to do
here! Everybody he encountered,
he'd do the same thing -and rightly
sofor a man of his position. I’m
never going to be Lee “Scratch”
Perry, not ina million years, but I
earned his respect in the studio and
that's worth millions to me.

“My own personal feelings about
the bloke? An utter genius. A mad,
crazy genius that could knocka cup
of water over and make it out to be
some kind of cosmic event. No
musicologist could find out exactly
what he did, but that's OK by me.
You can't put your finger on it
because there's nothing to put your
fingeron - it's him, it'sin his head.
That's why all these people — Bob
Marley, The Clash, the Beastie
Boys - wanted to work with 1
him, because they couldn't
put their fingers on it
either. And that’s the
mystery of being Lee
“Scratch” Perry. The
Upsetter. Scratch. The
originator. I hope he
gets a really good
send-off.” ©
SAMRICHARDS

GONGOS

Uprerter

_LEBPERRY
.FEATM
FESSOR

ж

A QUICK ONE

THE FULL SPECIALS
STORY 1979-2021

AMESSAGETO YOU! |

Dreadto think whatthe
future will bring? Fear
not!Forty yearsonfrom
therelease of "Ghost
Town", and with their
new Protest SongsLPin
shops, wepresentthe

to .Allthe
albumsreviewedin
depth, fromthe debut
tothe presentday
via and
„plus
chaotic 2 Tone scenes
fromthearchivesandan
exclusive new foreword
by .It'sinshops
noworavailable at
Uncut.co.uk...

2 remit ye

MOP iom.
Filmmusic supervisor
has
assembled anew track-
by-track tribute to
‘sseminal
1940 album Dust Bowl
Ballads.Featuringthe
likesof ,

and ,
Homeln This Worldis
releasedby Parlophone
onSeptember 10...

Wowie zowie!
arereforming for
aEuropeantourin
autumn 2022, following
their previously
announcedheadline
slotatPrimaverain
June. They'llvisit Leeds,
Glasgow, Edinburgh
andManchester before
afour-nightresidency
atLondon'sRoundhouse
in October...

ESP! қ
ом TOUR %

onbeating the pandemic
blues with the help of his son, aMellotron
andacouple of Magic Numbers...

I Billy, your new album

The Million Things That

Never Happened is being
touted as “the first post-
pandemic blues album of our
times”. Good to hear we're now in
the *post- period... Hardly! But it's
been around solong now, if you're
making anew LP, you either ignore it
or you try in some way to engage with
it. Гуе gone for the latter option.

Yet the opening track “Should
Have Seen It Coming" is open to
interpretation - it could be about
Covid... or Brexit... or Trump...
Definitely. It’s about whatever that
thing is that just whacked you on the
back of your head and knocked you
sideways. Whether personally or
politically, professionally or
whatever. In the West we often think
that we’re the masters of our own fate
- particularly in my industry - but
the pandemic has reminded us
that’s an illusion.

“Good Days And Bad Days”
speaks of “spending my days like
Pm lostin a fog/got nowhere to
walk that big old black dog”. Did
you struggle with depression
during lockdown? Га hesitate to
say depression, but certainly a loss
of motivation. I'm quite a driven

person, and what I dois very

much about live music. So that
disappearing left a huge gap in my
life. But whereas normally witha
song you're inviting the listener to
look at a situation they might not
have personally experienced, the
pandemic is a universal situation,
so I’m hoping people will relate to it
in their own ways.

Billymo' mates: with

son Jack Valero (second
left)andMagicNumbers
RomeoandMichele
Stodart(far right)

INSTANT KARMA

You made the album with
Dave Izumi Lynch and The
Magic Numbers’ Romeo
Stodart, incorporating some
intriguing electronic
sounds... I was looking for
producers to take my ideas and
run with them. Dave’s gotan
original Mellotron, and when
Iheard it I was like, ‘I really
like this’. It evoked, to me, this
feel of being in limbo, which
seemed appropriate. Dave said,
“Great! No-one ever lets me use
it!”, and it kind of became the
signature sound to the record.

Inrecent years you’ve
explored Americana styles,
with a mid-Atlantic singing
accentto boot. Buttwo
songs onthe new album are
also sungin your old ‘Bard
Of Barking' voice. Isthata
conscious switch? It's
something I've been thinking
aboutever since [1998's Wilco-
assisted set of Woodie Guthrie
covers] Mermaid Avenue. And
Istill don't know why they come
out like that! People say, that's
not your original voice. But this
iswhoIam now -the Americana voice
soundsauthentic to me, and it suits my
voice, which is lower now. If I sang like
Idid back then it would almost be like
me going out and dyeing my hair. I
don’t look exactly as I looked in 1984,
you know? Yet the London accent still
seems to suit certain songs, somehow.

One ofthose is “Ten Mysterious
Photos That Can’t Be Explained”,
co-written with your son Jack
(who fronts Brighton band The
RPMs)... I played him the song and
he said, “Maybe you need a middle
eight”. He suggested taking a couple
of bits out. I said, “I’ve got this phrase,
‘cyberchondriac’ – I’m not chucking
that out!” And he said, “Well put itin
amiddle eight”. He went off with his
guitar and he came back with the new
part. And it was really good. He was
right, the little sod... © JOHNNY SHARP

The Million Things That Never

Happenedisreleased by Cooking
Vinyl on October 8

МОУЕМВЕН2021-0МСИТ-7

JAMESGREEN/STABAL

JAMALBURGER; TAMARA EMY

Т

Тһе
һаа

BadBadNotGood
ascendto thenext
level,incahoots with

5

cult Brazilian arranger

Arthur Verocai

HEN Toronto jazzers
BadBadNotGood were
looking to add string

arrangements to their upcoming
fourth album Talk Memory, only
one name was ever considered.
Brazilian studio legend Arthur
Verocai has sprinkled his magic on
records by Jorge Ben, Gal Costa and
Marcos Valle, although his finest
achievement remains his 1972 self-
titled debut, a gorgeous and unique
blend of bossa nova, jazz, folk and
orchestral soul, inspired by
everything from Tom Jobim to
Jimmy Webb, Frank Zappa,

e
and the Verocai

Miles Davis and Ravel.

“It’s acombination of
everything I love about
music in one album," says
BadBadNotGood saxophonist
Leland Whitty. Other famous
fans include Madlib, Floating
Points and Stereolab’s
Laetitia Sadier, who picked the
“mesmerising” album as one of her
all-time faves in a past issue of
Uncut. Yet on release

TADIN P
“ЗІК Me mor

happy because they were enjoying
my work, which until then had not
been recognised here in Brazil."
BadBadNotGood are from an even
younger generation of disciples but
Verocai was impressed with their
sophistication: “The guys in the
bandare very talented and it gave
me the conditions to do a good job."
They originally came together
when BadBadNotGood supported
Verocai in Sao Paulo

itsank without trace, Sas) in 2019 and got to play
and Verocai didn’t some of the songs
“
make another record I Was from the self-titled
м ey "o oun
“The market at because they most inspiring and
the time was very were enjoy in special performances
commercial,” Verocai ) л» 5 thatwe've done,"
explains today, my wor says Whitty. “Once
and the album had ARTHUR VEROCAI the relationship was
artistic components established it seemed
without commercial | like a no-brainer to

pretensions.” He also bristled at
the lyrical censorship imposed by
Brazil’s repressive military regime.
Asaresult, Verocai retreated back
behind the studio glass to compose
music for TV and adverts,
including a jingle for the 1994
football World Cup.

However, in the 2000s, hip-hop
producers such as MF Doom and
9th Wonder began discovering
and sampling the Arthur Verocai
album, encouraging him to start
writing songs again. “I was very

| askhim to dostring arrangements,
and everything he did was
incredible. It was so easy because
since we love his music and trust his
vision so much, there were no notes
or guidance on our end. It was
perfect and beautiful, first try.”

“We hada few good conversations
before and after the show,” adds
BBNG bandmate Chester Hansen.
“He was super-welcoming and told
usa bunch of cool stories."

Now 76, Verocaiis more in-demand
than ever. “Ihave been working a lot

Fanboy three (l-r):
BadBadNotG ood's
Alexander Sowinski,
ChesterHansenand
Leland Whitty; (inset
below)Arthur Verocai

onarrangements for other artists,
Brazilian and foreign,” he confirms.
Mostexcitingly, he reveals thathe
has “a new album ready to recordin
the near future.”

Since busting out of Humber
College’s jazz programme a decade
ago, BadBadNotGood have been
thrilled to witness a renewed
hunger among music fans for jazz
and exploratory music in general,
ushering in a new era of open-
minded collaboration across
borders and generations. “There
are so many fusions of multiple
different genres, it’s super-exciting,”
says Whitty. “Even though there’s
this wave of ‘jazz’, every artistis
finding unique sounds and
combinations within that realm.”

As well as Arthur Verocai, Talk
Memory also features harpist
Brandee Younger and new age
composer Laraaji. “That was
pretty special - he put a beautiful
ambienceon the whole thing, like
azen guardian or something.
Everything that we did with this
record worked out.” © SAMRICHARDS

Talk Memoryis released by XL
Recordings on October 8

Кір;

Bor

ANGELINA CASTILLO

TheNashville-basedBrit

rediscoveringhis psych-folk roots

ROWING upin Romford, Essex, Spencer
-щ Cullum had a hobby foisted upon him.
| "Tused to collect Royal Family coins,

even though I'm not a royalist. It's silly, but my
dad would buy one with, say, Prince Charles' face
on it. He'd give it to me and say, ‘Spence, this'll be
worth a few bob some дау.” Those coins didn't
pan out as financial investments, but the idea of
thecollection stuck with Cullum even as he
emigrated to the US and became one of the most
sought-after pedal steel players in Nashville.

When he got ready to release his first solo album,
he titled it Spencer Cullum's Coin Collection, the
“coins” being the local musicians he assembled
to record this set of songs: singer-songwriters
Erin Rae and Caitlin Rose, famed multi-
instrumentalist and session player Jim Hoke,
drummer Sean Thompson (of Promised Land
Sound), and many others. They might not have
their faces on little metal discs, but this collection
has paid off better in the long run.

While he’s only now releasing his
first solo album, Cullum has been
accumulating collaborators for more
than a decade. On tour with Caitlin
Rose in the early 2010s, he spent
rehearsal breaks jamming on Booker
T &The MG’s tunes with Rose's
lead guitarist, Jeremy Fetzer. They
continued after the tour, eventually
forming the group Steelism to play
country instrumentals, in the tradition
of Floyd Cramer or Area Code 615.

After two Steelism albums (anda
third currently in the works), Coin
Collection allowed Cullum to tinker
with some new sounds and ideas:
krautrock drums, ambient synths,

10-UNCUT - NOVEMBER 2021

I'MYOUR FAN

Spencer Cullum:
coiningitin

noisy freakouts and psych-folk
melodies. “I’ve been playing pedal
steelina lot of Americana and
country bands, but when I was
younger, I was a huge fan of the British folk
scene: groups like Soft Machine and Fairport
Convention. І always wanted to make a record
in that vein, but I couldn't find the right
musicians when I was living in England."

He smiles at the irony. “I had to move to
Nashville to make British folk music.”

It'san album full of firsts. Cullum had never
written songs with actual lyrics before he teamed
up with Nashville singer-songwriter Andrew
Combs. “I’ve always been into Kevin Ayers
and Robert Wyatt – subconscious songwriters,
who showed me that lyrics don’t need to make
sense. They don’t need to tell you exactly how
I’m feeling it, they can Беа little more dreamlike.”

Нега also never recorded vocals before, which
made him nervous. “Everyone would puta
hand on my shoulder and tell me it was OK. I got
spoiled. It was terrifying, but also exciting.”

His vocals are low in the mix, which lends them
amystery appropriate to an album Cullum
describes as “very Wicker Man”. And
the playing has aspontaneous quality
born of first and second takes in the
studio. “The music in Nashville can
be very polished and perfect, but I
wanted this record to sound naive,
like I don’t quite know what I'm doing,
yet I’m still doing it. That’s something I
really like about my favourite records.
The older you get, the more you lose
that. Maybe on the next record Г11
play oboe..." ©
STEPHENDEUSNER

Spencer Cullum's Coin Collectionis
given awider release by Full Time
Hobby on September 24

UNCUT PLAYLIST

Onthestereo this month...

= 29 Sun Outside My Window
" © мноос

| Tappinginto arichheritage of
wistfulMersey melody, Alex
Stephens conjuresa quasi-
orchestralmarvelfromhis
Liverpoolbedroom.

"Spirit Power And Soul” вме

First taste of the upcoming Fever Dreams
Pts 1-4 finds the ageless axemanjoyously
reviving the spirit of abeloved oldband
(Electronicrather than The Smiths, btw).

ALove Supreme:Live In Seattle
IMPULSE!

Onanewly discoveredlive recording
fromlate'65, Tranekneadsandstretches
hismasterpieceintonew shapes. Now
withaddedPharoah!

Admonitionsnoauarrer

“I'm going full condor!" Truer
thanevertotheir name, the
openingtrack chisels away
atthesameone-chordriff for
22-and-a-half minutes. No
complaintshere.

Deciphering The Message вшекоте
New jazzkingpin celebrates signing
toBlue Note by puttinghisownspinon
choice cuts by Hank Mobley, Dexter
Gordon, Art Blakey etal.

The Intimate Landscape vracen
The Six Organssenseisets aside his
hexadic carddeck to contribute an
album of deft,instrumentalfolkreveries
tothe KPMlibrary.

80 Anos pavore ven
80 yearssince they formed-and50since
their last album - Beastie Boys producer
Mario Caldato Jr oversees anewiteration
ofthelegendary Afro-Brazilian big band.

Trespass On Foot su-suasco
Typically dense/intense double album
fromtheSaddleworth subversive: one
discofsolo guitar andelectronics, the
other withachamber group.

Juniper wesazz
АЭ ЦИ. Finnishsaxplayerrecruits
a CRUS Superpositionbandmates for
e P Wet anintimate indie-folk meets

jazz affair, asif Cassandra
Jenkins went the wholehog
andstartedrecordingfor ECM.

Circle Of Celebration oursuentcanvas
Heavyweight new age symposium, also
featuringmembers of Swans, Liturgy
andMercury Rev. Consider yourself
seriously healed.

VANISHING TWIN

OOKII GEKKOU
FIRE RECORDS LP / CD
Vanishing Twin explore new ground on ‘Dokii Gekkou’
incorporating elements of afrofunk, outer jazz and
avant-garde. Ltd edition gatefold vinyl. "One of the
most original and exciting acts of the moment" The
Quietus.

MAC MCCAUGHAN
THE SOUND OF YOURSELF
MERGE RECORDS LP / CD

An album of ambient and pop gems featuring
contributions from Mary Lattimore, TORRES, Yo La
Tengo, and more.

WYNDOW
WYNDOW
SUMMER CRITICS LP / CD
Debut album from Wyndow, Laura J Martin and Lavinia
Blackwall's new Kosmiche-Psych-Folk project. Woven
from threads sent across the wires, Wyndow strikes
new ground.

THE RUGGED NUGGETS
ODDS & ENDS
COLEMINE RECORDS LP / CD

CARGO COLLECTIVE

NATIVE SOUL
TEENAGE DREAMS

AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA 21Р / CD
South African amapiano electronic music from a young
duo who explore a hauntingly contemporary, mostly
instrumental interpretation of the currently trending

BRIGID MAE POWER

BURNING YOUR LIGHT
FIRE RECORDS LP / CD
New covers release featuring takes on Songs: Ohia,
Townes Van Zandt, Aretha Franklin, Patsy Cline and
more “A remarkable Irish singer emerges from filigree
and shadow” Mojo. style.

р

JERUSALEM IN MY HEART

QALAQ
CONSTELLATION LP / CD
Qalaq = “deep worry”. The renowned 21st century Arab-
Levantine contemporary music/art project returns with
a devastating album of collaborative tracks including
Moor Mother, Tim Hecker, Lucrecia Dalt, Greg Fox &
many more.

KASIM SULTON
KASIM 2021
DEKO ENTERTAINMENT CD
Kasim Sulton is best known for his work with Utopia,
singing on the top 40 hit “Set Me Free”, Kasim 2021
features stand out tracks like “More Love” and
"Fastcar".

JULIA SHAPIRO
ZORKED

SUICIDE SQUEEZE LP / CD
On Zorked, Julia Shapiro's (Chastity Belt) sophomore
album, she jumped into the deep end in search of
something new—and found power in heavy sounds.

S. RAEKWON
WHERE I'M AT NOW
FATHER DAUGHTER LP / CD
S. Raekwon, aka New York-based singer/songwriter
Steven Reynolds, touches upon his experiences as a
biracial Black man living in America in this gorgeous
self-produced and recorded debut album.

CONSECUVITY.
EM

2 bct

REB FOUNTAIN GRACE PETRIE
IRIS CONNECTIVITY
FLYING NUN RECORDS LP / CD THE ROBOT NEEDS HOME COLLECTIVE LP / CD

Combining pop elements with her trademark noir sound;
IRIS elevates Reh Fountain's music to new heights. The

The debut LP from The Rugged Nuggets hits hard and
demands to be turned up loud with the windows rolled
down. With swooning strings, breezy guitars & tough as
nails drums, Odds & Ends epitomizes a mellow vibe.

instant and indelible impression.

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album boasts authentic and anthemic tunes that leave an

The new record from folksinger Grace Petrie is an
exploration of connections between people. “The musical
soul of her generation” - HuffPost “An effervescent
charm-bomb of a performer” New Yorker.

AND LABELS DEDICATED TO

DUNDEE - ASSAI / EDINBURGH - ASSAI / GLASGOW - LOVE MUSIC / GLASGOW - MONORAIL

APRIL MAGAZINE

IF THE CEILING WERE A KITE: VOL. 1
TOUGH LOVE LP
Recorded over a span of about 2 years, If The Ceiling
Were A Kite is a document of things losing definition and
time gone slack. A handful of cryptic indie pop recordings
nestled in warm aerosol hiss & scrappy hand-drawn cover
art, reflecting their SF Bay Area home.

CINDY
1:2
TOUGH LOVE LP / CD
Cindy's 3rd LP is the quietly devastating 1:2. Unlike
the previous records, this isn't dream-pop sunshine
bliss; there’s an unsettling quality mixed with a hazy
atmosphere that makes this latest record 100% addicting
& the perfect antidote to comfort listening.

HOLY HIVE
HOLY HIVE
BIG CROWN RECORDS LP / CD
Holy Hive picks up where they left off on their debut
album and pushes their Folk Soul sound into new places
on their highly anticipated eponymous sophomore
album.

SPINNING TOP LP / CD
On their highly anticipated ninth album 9, Pond's
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JINNWOO; ALYSSEGAFKJEN; SANDLIN GAITHE

INSTANT KARMA

Presenting 15 tracks of new-schoolblues

LUES has always beena vital channel of protest and

nonconformity, and in recent years a powerful new group

ofartists haverisen up torail against the problems ofthe
21stcentury. There are plain-speaking singer-songwriters such
as Buffalo Nichols, whose self-titled debut is our Album Of The
Month, Tré Burt, Amythyst Kiah and Allison Russell; guitarists
like Gwenifer Raymond and Cameron Knowler taking on the
instrumental might ofthe blues; and those harnessing the raw,
ragged power ofthe sound, from The Black Keys to Eight Point Star.
We've put together 15 tracks ofthe finest new-school blues on this
month's free CD - time to, as Burnside puts it, get down.

1

SweepltUp

This short instrumental slide
bluesisa highlight ofthe Welsh
guitarist's debut album, 2018's
You NeverWere Much Of A Dancer,
anda fine vignette with which to
kick off the CD.

2

Get Down

Grandson of legendary blues auteur
RL Burnside, Cedric can certainly
kick up his own joyous racket. Here's
a ferocious piece from his most
recent record, this year’s I Be Trying.

3 |
Shakedown

June’s latest record, The Moon And
Stars: Prescriptions For Dreamers,
was our Album Of The Month earlier
this year, but here's a selection from
her bluesier 2017 offering, The Order
Of Time, with June's soulfulness in
fullflower.

4
DeepBreath

The debut solo album from the
lynchpin of New Orleans’ The
Deslondes is a down-home, dusty
triumph, and this sun-baked,

12: UNCUT -NOVEMBER 2021

swooning 12-bar is one ofits most
ear-catching tracks.

5

All Of The Women

This Montreal-born songwriter has
long been part ofa swathe of strong
rootsy groups, from Birds Of
Chicago to Our Native Daughters.
Outside Child is her first solo album,
and this track's a potent example of
thetreasures within.

6

How ToLove

Nichols' sparse and serious debut
LPisour Album Of The Month on
page 18. AsStephen Deusner puts it
in hisreview, this isn't a blues-
revival record, more a blues record,
andallthe better for it.

An RL Burnside song from their
recent Delta Kream album, this cut
shows offthe Keys' impressive way
with a cover; even after all their
success, they can harness the power
ofthe blues like few oftheir rock
contemporaries.

OLUN&TUNBLIN

UNCUT PRESENTS 15T
FEATURING
VALERIE JUNE
THEBLACK KEYS
GWENIFER RAYMOND
CEDRIC BURNSIDE

ISON RUSSELL -

Widow’s Peak

Named after Odetta Holmes,

‘the voice of the civil rights
movement’, Hartman put a modern,
experimental spin on blues with
her 2018 album, Old Rockhounds
Never Die; deep, electronic kick
drums and strings spice up this
spectral ballad.

9

Ransom Blues

Signed to John Prine’s Oh Boy label,
Burt mixes traditional country blues
with themes of modern protest.
Second album You, Yeah, You serves
as a fine introduction to this former
mailman’s world.

10

Blues
Another member of Our Native
Daughters, the Chattanooga,
Tennessee, singer-songwriter
enlisted the likes of guitarist
Blake Mills for her new album
Wary + Strange, a bold record in
both sound and content.

11

ingBlues
Last year's Over That Road I'm
Bound is a collection of Uncle Dave
Macon songs, given ajunkyard
twist by percussionist Cooder.
*Heartaching Blues" is a highlight,
inallitsclanking, wonky glory.

12

BrandNew Shirt

This ‘cosmic Appalachian’ string
band, clustered around Mike
Gangloff of Pelt, Black Twig Pickers
and more, tackle quite a few forms
of American roots music on their
self-titled album, but “Brand New

RACKS OF NEW-SCHOOL BLUES

Amythyst К
Kiah

Shirt" is most definitely rowdy,
raucous blues.

Carolina Bound

ASouthern Gothicis the third
album by this South Carolina
singer-songwriter. The record's
been executive produced by

T Bone Burnett, and Adia's
previously worked with Aaron
Dessner - it's not hard to hear
what caught their ears.

14

LightRainBlues

A Taj Mahalcover from the multi-
instrumentalist's recent self-titled
album, this mixes blues with the
ambient Americana charted on our
covermount CD from earlier in 2021.
A floating, restorative delight.

15

DonBishop A

Places Of Consequence is the debut
solo album from this solo acoustic
picker. He grew up in southern
Arizona and Texas, and the dust of
the Mexican border can be heard in
his plaintive, unhurried playing.

KILIMANJARO PRESENTS

Kilimanjaro presents

NOVEMBER 2021

Wednesday 10
GLASGOW 0, ACADEMY

Friday 12
MANCHESTER 0, APOLLO
Saturday 13

LEEDS 0, ACADEMY

Mo nday 15
LONDON EVENTIM APOLLO HAMMERSMITH

Tuesday 16
LONDON EVENTIM APOLLO HAMMERSMITH

myticket.co.uk
softcell.co.uk

The classic album performed live for the first time -plus all the hits!
also previewing tracks from the new album fe^ M $
*Happiness not included E
Released Spring 2022 on BMG and available to pre-order now from softcell.tmstor.es

[ШЇЇ

FEBRUARY 2022
FRI 11 LEEDS UNIVERSITY STYLUS
SUN 13 LONDON ROUNDHOUSE

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АМУТТОЧЭПОІМОЧЭЛ

INSTANT KARMA

66 VOUT ego goes
out the door 99

MMYLOU HARRIS is speaking

to Uncut from her “big messy

bedroom” in Nashville. “I

just got back from a weekend

of benefits for Crossroads, a
social enterprise I'm involved in that
helps homeless animals get adopted,"
she says. “I didit with Sheryl Crow and
Shawn Colvin. It was just a lovely girl's
weekend of beautiful harmonies. But the
unpacking is always a problem!"

Harrisislooking forward to performing
more regularly, buoyed by the release of
anarchivallive album called Ramble In
Music City: The Lost Concert, recorded
at Tennessee Performing Arts
Center in 1990 with her bluegrass
band The Nash Ramblers. "It
wasa delightful surprise," says
Harris ofthe album's recent
unearthing. “I couldn't believe
the energy. Ishouldn’t have
been surprised — it was a great
band. There was not asingle
note out of place, we didn't have
tofix anything. All thesongs
took ona fresh coat of paint with
this different instrumentation."
Yetasitstands, she has no

plans to add to her discography.
“T think as a songwriter I’m
done,” she says. “I’m really
excited about the [Ramble In Music City]
record and perhaps if I do put my Emmy
Sings Gram record together... but I’m not
sure there is going to be anything [new].
I’ve done a lot of records!”

When yousing, do youimagine you
are thecharacter whose story the
songis about?

Abigail Smith, via email

That’s an interesting question. I’m very
much myself, so it’s not like how an actor
[inhabits] a role. Even іп acting, you're
dealing with universal emotions but
tapping into how they come through
you. SoIwouldn't say I become someone
else. When I sing a song like “The Boxer”,
Itry to lock into the emotion and the

The Americana star
and serial duettist says she’s
done with making records.

But there’s still plenty to
discuss - including Gram,
Bob and good times at
the Red Fox Inn

Interview by SAM RICHARDS

frustration. ГЇЇ even go back
to my early days in New York,
which were some trying times,
some dark times. So you find
that common ground.

Isittruethat you've
essentially disavowed

your 1969 debut album,
Gliding Bird? If so, why?

John Callahan,

Anchorage, Alaska

I think the writing is a bit
sophomoric, a lot of Joni Mitchell-

FallenAngels
Tour, Chicago,
March3,1973

esque melodies. I was finding my voice
and I don’t think I found that missing
piece until I worked with Gram. However,
it was certainly very real for meat that
time, so I suppose I shouldn’t disavow

it. Over the years I’ve gotten more tender
feelings aboutit. For all the troubled times,
it was also glorious to be around artists

in the Village like Paul Siebel and Jerry
Jeff Walker. Between my sets at Gerde’s
Folk City, I'd walk a few blocks over to The
Bitter End and see Jerry Jeffand David
Bromberg doing their set. We would gather
sometimes at the local bar - I'd havea
ginger ale! It was a very creative time for
me but it was just part of the journey.

Do youever wonder whatGram
Parsons wouldbe doing today if
hehadnotleft the planet atsuch
ayoung age?

Mark Purdy, San Jose, California
That’s avery difficult thing because you
wish that he were still here. Ifhe could
have wrestled his demons to the ground,
he was brilliant and way ahead of his
time. Country music never had achance
to embrace him, but I think he would
have gone on to doa lot of great things. He
certainly had a profound effect on me.

Whatdo youremember about
playing the RedFox Іпп[іл Bethesda,
Maryland] with The Angel Band

that you formedin 1973 after Gram
Parsons passed away?

Terje Morewood, Norway

That was my first gig fronting a band

with drums and bass. When I played the
Washington DC area before I met Gram,

I'd had alittle bit of a folk audience. Plus
this was a bluegrass club and we were
basically a country band, so I didn’t

know how people would respond. I do
remember being incredibly nervous, for
abouta couple of bars, and then I just went
intothat zone [where] the songs take over.
After that, Inever looked back. But it kind
ofallstarted that first night at the Red Fox.
Itwasa great place to honeone'scraft. >

NOVEMBER2021 -UNCUT : 15

ICONANDIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES

"I'mmainly an =
is jal eo Whatdo you think of First Aid
London, 1975 к Kit'ssong "Emmylou"?
/ PhilHarding, Barry
Iloved it. Everybody told me I had to
hear this song, but for some reason
Ididn’t seek it out. Then I was on
tourin Australia and it came on
inastore in Adelaide. Iremember
stopping and saying, “Boy, that’s
really beautiful.” And then I heard
these beautiful voices singing my
name and I went, “Oh my god, that's
j TA the song everybody’s been talking
Teute Kira about!” It was nice to hear it in that
Söderberg, way, without expectation – it was
akaFirstAidKit | Ж one of those little gifts from the
universe. I love those girls.

How do youfeel about the Country
Music Awards choosingnot to
honour JohnPrinelast year?
Graham Cooper, Worthing
John Prineisina class by himself, right?
Soifthey don’t think of him as country,
Idon't think we should slam them. John
Prine doesn't need an award from the
Country Music Association, he will live
forever. And let's face it, there are a lot of
people who get awards that we will
soon forget! He's part ofthe great
soundtrack of American music, the
quintessential American songwriter.

How difficult wasittoharmonise with | Wasitimportantfor you His songs tell the sweet and the dark

BobDylanonthe Desire sessions? toshow what you could of the human condition and we're
JohnKajander, via email doasasongwriter on justlucky to have lived in the same
There was no rehearsal; Га never even [2000's]Red Dirt Girl? time as John Prine.

heard the songs before. I was sitting nextto | Chantelle Smith,

him withalyricsheetandhe’dbreakinto | Newcastle Are there any musicians you've

the song. Опе eye would be watchinghim | Istill feel т mainly always wished youcould
and the other was reading these lyrics that | aninterpreter. But after collaborate with?
I’ve never seen before. I think ignorance Wrecking Ball, Daniel Arafin, via Twitter
is part of it! It served me well, because [Lanois, producer] said to Well, I’ve sung with just about
otherwise I would’ve been overwhelmed. me, “You need to write for everybody! There are a couple, but
Ialso thought I'd be able to go back and your next record.” And then unfortunately they’ve passed away:
fix anything if I'd sung a bad note. But I Guy Clark said, “You need to Leonard Cohen and Merle Haggard.
found out later that was not possible. With | write your next record and I There’s never been anyone quite
Dylan, it’s live off the floor. Ilearnta lot don’t care ifit takes you five Wi қ | s^ У like Cohen - his poetry cuts deep

a 2 : ith Daniel , .
from that session: the emotion and the years!” I figured if those two Lanois " ШҚ / | into our psyche and I would love to
momentis more important than getting people are telling me I need [ча have sung on some of those songs
things exactly right. Did Bobsayanything | towrite my next record, I .. with him. And of course
to me? No, it was all business! He had should pay attention. It's not Merle Haggard is country
another bunch of musicians waitinginthe | like Td never written – I had done music to me. If you tried to
other room - we'd go out, he'd bring them [1985's The Ballad Of] Sally Rose introduce someone from
inand he'd do another song. He did invite anda few other songs, so I thought, Mars to country music,
me tojoin the Rolling Thunder Revue, but | ‘Atleast I could try.’ I wanted to you'd play them one of
atthat pointI was so intensely involved carry on with the sonic landscape Merle's records. I just love
with my own touring with The Hot Band.I | that Dan had put mein for Wrecking his voice and his songs.

was committed to carrying on with Gram's | Ball, but to make it different I

vision; that was even moreimportant to needed to put on my writing hat. I When will wehear

ә methan being оп the road with Bob Dylan. | locked myselfaway, Iletmy band new music from you?

8 go, I didn’t do any gigs, I put myself Dave Chatham,

© Whatisitaboutsingingduets that into thatspace andI got quite deep via email

Ш appeals to you? into it. My first song was probably It's niceto be wanted, so

į KarenBletchley, Suffolk “The Pearl” and once I got that... Iappreciate the question.

E IfeellikeIfound my voice singing duets But I’m not sure that I have
> with Gram. Your ego goes out the door иии 6н anything to say that compels me to go into
9 and you'rejust following that lead astudio and make a record. Im still going
= vocal, finding that other melody. It's the | | | to perform live. But the more songs you

Б sound oftwo or three voices when you're record, the harder it is to puta set together!
8 harmonising together, you're creating : 1 You never know, I might light a fire under
= something that didn't exist before. myself, but right now I'm content. ©

Е Collaboration is so much ofa part of

Е music for me. Іепјоу the company of other j г Ramble In Music City: The Lost Concert
= musicians and songwriters and singers. is outnow on Nonesuch

16-UNCUT-NOVEMBER 2021

THIRD MAN RECORDS

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uU

UNCUT

NEW АТАХ

NOVEMBER 2021

TAKE 294

1 THE WARONDRUGS (P22)
2LALUZ (P24)
3 STEELY DAN (
4MY MORNING JACKE

BUFFALO NICHOLS

Buffalo Nichols

FATPOSSUM
ARL “Buffalo” Nichols inequality within a larger framework.
opens his self-titled debut ALBUM “When my grandpa was young, he had to hold
with a crisp acoustic blues OF THE his tongue," Nicholssings on the harrowing
riff, bending the notes MONTH “Another Man", cause they'd hang you from
upwards while he depicts 9/10 a bridge downtown/Now they callit stand your

himselfas a deeply and
irredeemably lonely man.
“If you see me in your town, looking tired with my
head hanging down,” he sings on “Lost & Lonesome”,
“you may wonder what went wrong and why I’m
alone". It’s a bracing introduction to an artist who
uses blues to examine the world around him and
who understands the historical weight of the music
without being burdened by it. Nichols spends the
rest of the album trying to explain himself — why he's
weary, what went wrong, how he found himselfalone.
He tells asad story but one enlivened by his skills
as a guitarist, his expressiveness as a singer and
his insights as a lyricist.

ground". For him, 2021 is no different than 1921.
Blues remains powerful and relevant because
the conditions that inspired so much of the
music still persist.

It took Nichols years to come to that conclusion.
Born in Milwaukee, he taught himself to play guitar
and specifically to play guitar like the artists in his
mother’s record collection, such as Robert Cray and
BB King. But few cities have a robust blues scene
these days, let alone a blues scene open to young kids
trying to learn the rules and pick up some techniques.
Instead, he played in punk bands around town and,
while the form didn’t leave much room for the kind of
self-expression that he craved,
it taught him important lessons

Arriving amid a wave of — ff
artists who incorporate old 4 1 4 about intensity, concision,
blues into new sounds — =” i and targeted outrage. He saw
including Amythyst Kiah and | >! | i blues = aroomy а але in
Tré Burt, among many others E : theUnited States, the province
- Nichols sings and plays with ' | ! of boxsets and high-brow

the understanding that this i
musicalformisan apt vehicle
to capture this current moment T)
in America, not despite its long ё
history but because ofit. Blues X.
isa means ofcontextualising
police violence, gentrification,
Black Lives Matter and income

18: UNCUT - NOVEMBER 2021

BUFFALO NICHOLS

documentaries, something
that spoke to the past rather
than to the present.

Travelling throughout
Europe and visiting clubs
and coffeeshops, however,
Nichols saw how this American
music might be more closely >

4

O NEW ALBUMS

SLEEVE NOTES

LLost&
Lonesome

2 Living Hell

3 Sick Bed Blues
4These Things
5How ToLove
6Another Man
7 Back On Top

8 Sorry It Was You
[e]
Producedby:
Buffalo Nichols
Recorded
at:National
Recording,
Milwaukee
Personnel:
Buffalo Nichols
(vocals, guitars,
tambourine,
organ, fiddle),
Matthew Wilson
(bass, drums)

makes it all the more powerful
and persuasive.

integrated into everyday life. Upon returning
to the States, he began writing songs about the

counts the lessons and scars he took
froma relationship, knowing his lover
took justas many of both. “The way
they hurt you showed you how to love,”
he sings over a jumpy guitar theme,
“the way you hurt me showed me how
to love”. It’s a pain that gets passed
around from person to person, likea
disease. However, these aren't songs
ofrecrimination and blame. They're
disarmingly generous, startlingly
tender, especially “These Things".
Nichols apologises for not being a
better, stronger man, for not being
able to create a safehaven for himself
and his lover, finally admitting that
“Tcan’t be saved from all these things"
— by which he means the things
that these other songs are about.
Thesesongs skirt pessimism by
virtue of Nichols’ committed and
unflinching performances as both
asinger and a guitarist. His voiceis
always sensitive to the complexities of
his lyrics, never steamrolling through
asong or overplaying the emotions.
Asaninstrumentalist, he's energetic
andnimble, pushing even the slower
songs along ata brisk pace. On the
first few tracks his guitar is a useful

state of his world, then made rough demos and
field recordings at his apartment or nearby at
National Recording: spare, often desolate acoustic
performances usually featuring just his husk ofa
voice and his nimble guitar playing. Those demos
became the foundation for his self-titled debut, a
stunning collection of songs that treats blues less
as a musical style and more as a way of seeing the
world in all its glory and horror. Buffalo Nichols is
nota blues revival record. It’s just a blues record.
"It's hard to write a song while folks get murdered
every day,” he exclaims on “Another Man”, asong
he shelved after the murder of George Floyd in
May 2020 [see Q&A]. As difficult as this creative
enterprise may be, Nichols emerges as a sharp,
succinct, inventive and insightful songwriter,
one who can convey complex ideas with just a
few words. In fact, every song hasatleast one
line that will stop you in your tracks, some songs
two or three. One of his finest moments comes at
the beginning of “Living Hell”, when he sings,
“Only two kinds of people come here after 3:00/
That’s police and crooks and they’re the same to
me". It’s a tidy rhyme but it's that simplicity that

The world Nichols evokes is
treacherous, with each song testifying to great
pain and paranoia. Without sounding preachy,
he lets you know that this is the state of being
blackin America, where death is one traffic stop
away, where small mistakes have impossibly dire
consequences. On “Living Hell” he admits that
he goes to church just to hear fire-and-brimstone
sermons, because the Hell of the Bible may be
the only place where wrongdoings are punished,
where evil men get their comeuppance. When
he sings “I’m clinging to the memory of a bright
and peaceful day but I really don’t remember
that things ever were that way,” it’s one of the
saddest moments on the entire album.

Not every song on Buffalo Nichols is explicitly
political but every song bears the weight of these
constant tragedies. His protest songs mingle with
love songs until you can’t distinguish one from
the other: the horrors of the world drive lovers
together but also rip them apart. “You’re gonna
suffer anyway butit’s better with a friend,” he
decides on “Lost & Lonesome”. “How To
Love” is even more heartsore, as Nichols

foil that can convey a certain sardonic
anger, that can push back against the world
when he sounds too weary to do it himself. As
the album progresses, however, Nichols builds
up thearrangements, adding a feverish cymbal
roll to *Sick Bed Blues", then a sympathetic
fiddle to "These Things". A full band rambles
through *Back On Top", which sounds like a
particularly lively night at a North Mississippi
juke joint.

Оп closer “Sorry It Was You” he’s joined by a
tight rhythm section and an organ that sneaks
around the shadows of the arrangement, before
everything finally falls away so that hecan add
ashort acoustic flourish like an exclamation
point to the album. Partly because Nichols plays
almost all the instruments, he doesn’t sound
any less lonely with all that activity around him.
Butit does imply a trajectory, a journey, perhaps
even an epiphany about the power of the blues to
defy and to console. The world doesn’t get better,
nor does he learn to view it in a different light,
but Nichols knows he has a listener at the other
end of the song. It’s better with a friend.

BUFFALO TRAIL

DUSTINCOHEN

Three works that influenced Nichols’ debut

lll COREY HARRIS
M Fish Ain tBitin
ll ALLIGATOR, 1997
“I discovered him on that
boxset Martin Scorsese
Presents The Blues, and
Istudiedhim alotto figure out acoustic
blues. This album has always stood out to me.
It's areally strongrepresentation of what's
possible with just a voice and a guitar."
8/10

20- UNCUT- NOVEMBER2021

ERICBIBB &

NEEDED TIME

Spirit And TheBlues
EARTHBEAT, 1999

La He'shadaninteresting

№ career as ablues musician.
He's from New York but he's spent most of his
career in Sweden. He can play in modern ways
and pushes his songwriting forward.He'sa
great songwriter. But he's stuck to traditions
in alot of ways andhe alwaysincludes some
old spiritual on his records.”

8/10

NICK CAVE &
THEBAD SEEDS
-A No Моге Shall We Part

m]

m ИЩ MUTE,2001
HICK CAVE AND „ёх "Idon'tknow how much

К comes across on my record
but [Nick Caue]is always experimenting with
the bluesininteresting ways.| wentto this
album alot because it's just some of the most
vivid songwriting that I've ever heard. He's just
squeezing every bit of emotion out of every
word and finding the most devastating ways
todescribe the human condition." 9/10

NEW ALBUMS O

ROBERT CRAY-STR

Whatfirst attracted

you to the blues?

There was a guitar in the house

and it belonged to my older sisters.

I picked it up and it just felt natural.
Blues was just something that

came from my curiosity about the
guitar. | wanted to play everything
Iheard, and my mom had alot of
blues albums, like Robert Cray's
Strong Persuader. That was one that
everybody had in their house. I also
remember Riding With The King by
BB King and Eric Clapton. It was stuff
you'd find in any collection. But the most
important one for me was the boxset
Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues,
which was great. It's from a time before
the internet became whatit is now, soit
was good to be able to dive into all these
different parts of the history. I started
playing along with that stuff and it
just clicked.

Was there aparticular

style thatinterested you?

It was allso new and interesting to me
so I didn’t really narrow it down. But
I specifically remember Corey Harris
and Keb'Moon that Scorsese boxset. I
feltareally strong connection to them
and that drew me into acoustic blues.
I discovered them around the time I
started seeing blues live for the first
time. I tried to be as active as I could
in the music scene, going to all-ages
shows, that sort of thing. When I was
discovering the blues, I was playing
in punk bands with my friends. Then
Istarted playing whatever I could - a
lot of reggae and R&B, plus some
African music bands.

Әдік SCORSESE ВЕ ЕМ

BLUES

This albumis obviously
groundedin the blues
but yourenodding to
alotofother styles.
Were youconscious
ofthat while you were
recording?
Ican’t say it was intentional
but it didn’t feel natural for
me to make a genre-specific
album because Га never stuck to one
genre my entire life. I’m trying to present
abroader scope and put blues in there
where it belongs. It's roots music. It's folk
music. It's such a diverse genre. There
areso many different sounds that fall
under the word ‘blues’. Historically
most blues artists have had so much to
say and have played so many different
styles but they had to narrow it
down for their recordings.
© 1:47 Howdidtravelling
г through Europe
inform your music?
Iwas travelling a lot in
Germany and France,
then I went to Poland and
Ukraine. Black artists
like James Baldwin,
Jimi Hendrix and
Nina Simone, they
all felt they needed
to escape from some
part of America that
wasn’t letting them express
2 themselves. I appreciate
Caray тууш л those peopleand their
"Aene E contributions to culture,
B liz ELEM so I felt like I could learn

something from it. It was a big
turning point for me. Growing
upin Milwaukee, I could always
seetheremnants of what jazz
and blues meant to the city. You
could see old signs from blues
bars that closed до or 50 years
ago. There were a few bars where
you could go in and hear a cover
band doing Chicago blues. But
once I started travelling more, I
would see active jazz and blues
clubs all over the world, and
they were taking the music very
seriously. We take it for granted
here because it's a specifically
American art form. But seeing
other people appreciate it made
me really see its cultural value.

These songs sound

like they'rereactions to
what's happeningin America.
Even when I was just discovering blues,
it always seemed like very political
music. But I was very disappointed to
find that alot of contemporary artists
aretrying very hard to avoid any kind of
political topics. That never really made
any sense to me. If people are going to
spend money or even just pay attention
toyou, I think they deserve to know how
you feel. You can’t just give them fluff.
They can get that anywhere. People
use the word ‘authenticity’ but I think
that’s really about whether you believe
this person. Do you believe what they’re
saying? Do you believe what they’re
saying is true to them? If you’re just
taking someone else’s truth, then you’ve
lost the essence of the music.

Has your relationship to these
songs changed over time?
Donew events give them
differentimplications?

Revisiting them after the pandemic and
playing them for people allowed me to
remove myselfa little bit and I’ve learnt
to appreciate them more. One song that
changed in particular is “Another Man”.
I wrote it in 2017 or 2018, and it wasa
very confrontational song. It was meant
to upset people and provoke some kind
of thought. But after George Floyd was
murdered and this whole Black Lives
Matter movement exploded, I stopped
playing that song. It became this

really cheap thing, like everybody was
pretending to care about black people
and profiting off of black trauma.

It was exhausting to me.

Whatmade youstart

playingit again?

When I was putting this record together,
I felt like my feelings on the song might
change. So I putit out there. It exists. I
don’t have to play it but it’s there and I
can pick it up or leave it if I want. And
now that some time has passed, it feels
like the song needs to be sung again.
INTERVIEW: STEPHENDEUSNER

NOVEMBER 2021 -UNCUT : 21

DUSTIN COHEN, PAULNATKIN/GETTY IMAGES

SHAWNBRACKBILL

AdamGranduciel
(right)andco: ^
"pushingforward" ©
sonically апа N

thematically :

DRUGS

IDon'tLive Here Anymore

ATLANTIC

8/10

T’S asafe bet the scale of The War

On Drugs’ success has blindsided

even Adam Granduciel. He’s

no low achiever — after all, his

exacting standards brought

on a nervous breakdown

during the making of their
breakthrough, Lost In The Dream - but for
him satisfaction is something else. If the
No 10 Billboard spot and Grammy Award
for 2017’s A Deeper Understanding were
gratifying, they were not his goals.

Granduciel’s striving has always been

for something unidentified and forever
out of reach. That feeling has shaped four
albums to date, but The War On Drugs are
much more thana bunch of musicians

22-UNCUT - NOVEMBER 2021

y

THE WARON

“

facilitating the vision oftheir genius
leader. Granduciel's obsessional work –
fitting together a ton of recorded sounds
in the studio, like a puzzle with no clear
guide - playeda large part in their last
two LPs. It also figured in the (three-year)
making of Don’t Live Here Anymore,

but this time he was keen to reconnect
with his core players — bass player Dave
Hartley and multi-instrumentalist
Anthony LaMarca - early on, meaning the
three decamped to Upstate New York for
jamming and demo sessions.

The end result is 10 songs that again
channel US heartland rock - Springsteen
and Fleetwood Mac, obviously, but also

- something of Bryan
Adams and Journey
— through Меш%
motorik insistence.
Granduciel has
described it
as “arecord of
movement, of
pushing forward”
and that’s true
both sonically and
thematically. Here
are huge, seemingly
unbounded
songs that avoid

лі

bluster and pomposity by being rooted
in their author's feelings of shiftlessness,
dislocation and existential doubt, rather
than romanticised imagining.

The album title is a heavy indicator,
but the lyrics are packed with references:
“What have I been running from?" he
wonders on opener “Living Proof”,
where peals of bruised guitar suggest an
approaching storm: “I went down to the
corner/They’re building up my block/Maybe
Гуе been gone too long/I can’t go back".
The title track has Granduciel declaring,
"[don'tlive here anymore/And I got no
place to go” (rhyming it with “we danced to
‘Desolation Row”), while he considers the
times "when you're lost and you'rerunning
but the roads have changed" in *Old Skin".
Theroadas shorthand for unsettlement
is older than rock'n'roll itself, and rivers,
bridges and the Northern Star all have
signifying work to do here, yet the potency
holds, somehow amplified rather than
diminished by familiarity.

For all of the anxiety, though, there's
also understanding, philosophical
acceptance and hope, along with a strong
resolve to press on with a fulfilling life,
perhaps a result of Granduciel's having
turned 40 and become a family man. As he
notes on “Old Skin”: *Well, there's a price

for everything that tries to pull us allapart/
Sotake control of anything that tries to kill
youfrom the start".

The War On Drugs have fine-tuned their
hybrid of American drivetime classicism
апа kosmische on I Don’t Live Here
Anymore and buffed it toa warm sheen,
but they’ve also toned its muscle and gone

NEW ALBUMS O

SLEEVE NOTES

Anymore
7 OldSkin

8 Wasted

lighter on the layering, while significantly
upping their synth-pop game. The song
credits itemise an arsenal of ’80s analogue
gear, hence the spirit of Simple Minds
hovering over the title track and the gently
juddering, programmed drum pattern that
sustains “Victim”, with its Gabriel-ish art-
rock ending. “Harmonia’s Dream” is, as you
might expect, only more alluring - in its
motorik chug, the call ofa horizon that can
never be reached, plus sheets of gleaming
synths, minor chords and, at the two-thirds
mark, asudden dancefloor kick.

Incontrast are the irresistibly anthemic
“T Don’t Wanna Wait”, which opens with
winnowing treated guitar, then ushers
ina Wurlitzer and plush synths, and at
the other end of the mood spectrum, the
intimate “Rings Around My Father’s Eyes”.
As befits the subject, the album slows its
pace, recalling a less rousing Waterboys
while Granduciel declares, “I’ve never really
known which way I'm facing/But feel like
something's changed".

Ithas, ofcourse. The back-of-the-stadium
reach of The War On Drugs' songsis now
taking them into actual arenas, and I Don't
Live Here Anymore delivers even more
oftheir characteristic questing wallop.
Commercially, they've already reached
the tipping point. In artistic terms, their
expression has shifted slightly: it’s the same
satisfyingly panoramic view but much
clearer, asifthrough vast windows rather

Electric Lady
Studios, NYC;

Electro-Vox

DaveHartley
" IN

(bass, synth),

Anthony

arca (drums,

guitars), John
Natchez (o

o

w

ynths) Patrick

n

w
Ф

2гкегу (drums,

percussion), Lee
thanacar windscreen. Hard-won wisdom Pardini(grand
and renewed faith drive them forward. piano)

Adam Granduciel: excit

ec

again - tostart
ndsounds,
asinspiredto
jupsomewhere

, sonically

excited to div
writing, col
workingasn
work...hop

gandagood resentation

9

р

г

\АЛ

£T
'rollthemes thathave

theclassic rock
alwaysdrawnmein.Sincelwas young

disgonnabe
self-doubt and then

I've turned to music for guidance andhope, for solace and
understanding.|

pointor another; forme

ink these are things we allfeelatsome

"sacomfortin songsthat

tackleisolation or depressionor feelinglost, so we don't

haveto go aboutit on our ownallthe time.

every day ontour
we'relike sponges backst

-soak panything from
ock to Tomita.
tillavidcollectors and
but of course we
stillhave records andartists
justabottomless well

ation - Dylan, Neu!,

Wonder, Eno,
INTERVIEW: SH,

stillanavid
collector

P24 LALUZ

P26 HAYESCARLL

P28 STEELYDAN

P29 HOWLINRAIN

P30 MOUTHPAINTER

P32 TYSEGALL

P33 MYMORNING JACKET
P34 GROUPER

Jeffrey Alexander & The
Heavy Lidders arrownawk

TAN
7/10

Headyundergroundexplorations
fromcast of collaborators

Alongtime

citizen of the

New Weird America,
Jeffrey Alexander
has gathered an
impressive cast of
underground collaborators for his
new Heavy Lidders project. Marissa
Nadler shows up to duet on a woozy
cover of the Dead’s “Black Peter”.

Ace drummers Ryan Jewell (Ryley
Walker, Mosses) and Scott Verrastro
(Kohoutek) provide steady, sensitive
pulses, while Rosali Middleman drops
in with ghostly backing vocals. Best
ofall, Drew Gardner of the psych-folk
duo Elkhorn sets off Neil Young-ish
guitar fireworks on the jammed out
“Audubon Trooper”. Throughout,
Alexander revels in the wonderful
sounds he and his friends make.
More heady than heavy, but that’s

no complaint. TYLER WILCOX

DADA ғам
Memory Device mempnisinoustries
7/10

London-based American's
lockdown-penned debut

шинанын Produced by
Le [HotChipand
ы #4 LCD Soundsystem
4 Ns polymath Al
Doyle, this debut
album from New-
Yorker-in-east-London Babatunde
Doherty often sounds like the work
of those acts’ adopted nephew. Icy
synth textures and gnarly nuggets
of techno punctuate Doherty’s
sometimes staccato, sometimes
soulful vocals on the likes of
“Thought Leader”, all hung on sharp
pop hooks. You might feel you have
heard the “round and round” chorus
of “Black Wagon” in several songs
before but it's no less hypnotic for
it, while the New Order-ish pulse
and guitar twang of “Nature’s
Curse” and the neurotic LCD-style
techno-rock of “Temp Worker” suit
his understated delivery just as well.
JOHNNY SHARP

NOVEMBER 2021 - UNCUT : 23

POONEHGHANA, ELEANORPETRY

LaLuz:(I-r)
Alice Sandahl,
Shana
Clevelandand
LenaSimon

LALUZ

La Luz HARDLY ART
8/10

-LA LUZ- SOMEartists don’t

| need producers
— picky auteurs,
say, or those who
pride themselves
| onundiluted

s ^ communication,
warts and all. For everyone else though, a
producer remains a crucial part of musical
creation, one that can make the difference
between a good and a great record.

La Luz, formed in Seattle a decade
ago but based in California since 2017,
have made especially strong choices
with their studio collaborators. For their
second album, 2015's Weirdo Shrine, they
enlisted Ty Segall to energise their grimy
garage-surf; he set up a makeshift studio
ina friend’s surfboard workshop to bring
echoey lo-fi gallops like “You Disappear”
and “Black Hole, Weirdo Shrine” to life.
Dan Auerbach came on board for 2018’s
Floating Features, and made their beats
tighter and crisper, their organs fuzzier
and their music more three-dimensional.

Returning now with their self-titled
fourth album, they’ve bloomed into
Technicolor with the help of Adrian
Younge, the producer and composer
seemingly enamoured of the same retro
sounds as La Luz. Shana Cleveland’s
guitars still clang and warp in homage
tothe surfinstrumentalists she loves,
especially on the rushing “The Pines”
and “Metal Man”, but there’s a more
extreme psychedelic feel to many of these
tracks. The low-slung funk of “Watching
Cartoons”, for instance, features а starry-

24: UNCUT- NOVEMBER 2021

SLEEVE NOTES

1InThe Country
2ThePines
3Watching
Cartoons
4Oh,Blue
5Goodbye Ghost
6YubaRot
7MetalMan
8Lazy EyesAnd
Dune
9DownTheStreet
101Won't
Hesitate
11HereOnEarth
12SpiderHouse
[zd
Producedby:
Adrian Younge
Recordedat:
Younge's studio,
Los Angeles
Personnelinclude:
ShanaCleveland
(vocals, guitars,
electric sitar),
Alice Sandahl
(vocals,
keyboards),Lena
Simon(vocals,
bass), Riley Geare
(drums)

eyed, patchouli-scented electric sitar solo.
Thatsoundisscattered subtly throughout
the rest of the record too, much in the
manner of Unknown Mortal Orchestra's
useofthe instrument.

Keyboards abound on La Luz:
Mellotrons gurgle alongside vintage
compact organs, and *Goodbye Ghost"
powers along at a breathless garage
paceuntilitstaggers to a halt with the
novelty cooing ofa theremin. Elsewhere,
the copious percussion - tubular bells
апаа! - sounds asifit’s being beamed
straight from the Gold Star Studios echo
chamber. There are touches ofthe 13th
Floor Elevators, The Free Design, even
The United States Of America, in the
glorious, high-energy fug the group
create. In keeping with the practices
ofthose bands, they completed basic
tracking inlessthan two days and
finished recording in two weeks.

Yet there's another side to La Luz's

fourth album too, one much quieter and
eerier. Little wonder, perhaps, after chief
songwriter Shana Cleveland moved out

to the uber-rural environs of Grass Valley
in northeast California a couple of years
back. There she completed her second solo
album, 2019's excellent Night Of The Worm
Moon, and that record's ghostly folk bleeds
into the more hushed tracks here. These
moments are also a perfect opportunity
for Younge to show offhis fine taste,
production skills and the array of vintage
instruments in his studio. “Lazy Eyes And
Dune” comes on likea classic John Barry
theme with its harpsichord arpeggios,
excessive phasing and muted bass, witha
touch of The Beatles’ “Because” thrownin
for good measure. “Oh Blue” is aswinging
ballad with girl-group poise, doo-wop
harmonies and some gorgeous Mellotron
flutes, while opener “In The Country”
gently rolls before erupting into bluebottle
fuzz guitar and kosmische synth twitters.

Cleveland became a mother in 2019,
which has had a significant impact on the
songs here, especially in the record's more
thoughtful half. *Here On Earth" is the
most obvious hymn to the guitarist's son,
alilting ballad that could have fitted in
beautifully on The Velvet Underground's
self-titled debut. “Don’t worry now”, sings
Cleveland, backed by her bandmates, “as
the days fly by/Just remember I/Am here
on Earth to love you". If it could be cloying
on paper, the chunky major chords,
woozy organ and Wurlitzer keep it feeling
pleasingly oblique.

The album ends with “Spider House”,
ashort instrumental reprise of “Lazy
Eyes...”, fulfilling its destiny as retro
credits music. As a whole, this is a record
curiously out oftime, neither tapping into
any kind ofzeitgeist nor harking back
to one particular scene; rather, it stands
apart, a kaleidoscopic yet subtle take on
eclectic '60s sounds. With а little help
from Younge, La Luz may have made their
first great record.

ЕЕЕ 49

ShanaCleveland:; “It's

shouldrecordarecord with

inherently cinematic"

How'slifeinrural
California?

Grass Valleyis alovely place.
It'sreallyremote andkind of
adream,nine months out of
theyearatleast-there'sa
lot of fires aroundherenow,
soit's pretty stressful. When
the pandemic coincides with
fire seasonhere, youcan't
goinside andyoucan'tgo
outside, so you'resort ofa
prisoner in your ownhome.
We're getting throughit.

This feels like your most
psychedelic record, but
also the most personal.
It'slookingat what's closest
tome-Ithink that'smaybe
whateveryone's doingnow

with the pandemic. |t'sa
response to that andalso
tomotherhoodandtoliving
rurally. Allof those things
putmeinthisheadspace

of [examining] whatis
closestandtuninginto that
with anew patience. It was
interesting to findthatthat's
whatmakes something
psychedelic-if youhave
the attention spantoreally
lookatsomething, it
allbecomesmore
mysterious.

How wasit
working with
Adrian Younge?
That wassuchacool
surprise. My partner,
Will[Sprott], has

haditinhishead
for years that we

Adrian, butit didn'tseem
realistic. For somereason,
we thought we'dgiveitatry
this time, and surprisingly
he was really into the idea.
Something about our goofy
Instagram presence made
him feellike we wouldbe
fun to work with, andIthink
hecouldhear that we were
coming fromthe same
place.llovedusing
the Mellotron;
itsinherently
cinematic -
Adrian would
say, “Let's
putsome
"Strawberry
Fields..' on
there!”
INTERVIEW:
TOMPINNOCK

NEW ALBUMS O

AQUASERGE
The Possibility Of A New
Work For Aquaserge CRAMMED

8/10

Frenchavant-rockersremix
thegiants of 20th-century
musicalmodernism

к Widely respected
|5 fortheirrestlessly
inventive jazz-
Я rockexperiments,

| Toulouse-based
* ensemble Aquaserge
expand their lineup and musical
horizons on this selection of homages,
covers and reworkings of 20th-century
modern classical icons including
Morton Feldman, Edgar Varése and
Gyórgy Ligeti. Horror-movie drones,
atonal chord clusters and jarring
textural shifts abound, but these Gallic
eggheads mostly find a fruitful balance
between intellectual rigour and off-
kilter melodic beauty. Two versions
ofFeldman's youthful composition
“Only”, with lyrics by the German poet
Rilke, provide soothing psych-pop
relief between more challenging
free-jazz eruptions like the honking,
skronking, angular Varése pastiche
“17689С” and the kinetic, propulsive,
avant-funk improvisation “Comme Des
Carrés De Feldman”. STEPHENDALTON

vm

AUDIOBOOKS

Astro Tough «veu

8/10

Oddcouple'seccentric and

riveting take onsynthpop

F Audiobooks certainly
madean impression
* withtheirdifficult

2018 debut Now! (In
A Minute), a cartoon
collision of fruity

electro and snooty sprechgesang.
Luckily, Evangeline Ling and David
Wrench have stuck to their guns

and found comfort in the chaos of
theircollaboration for Astro Tough,
smoothing out some ofthe kinks to
produce their loveliest song, “First
Move”, but also doubling down on the
intensity so that nuttier numbers like
“LaLaLa It’s The Good Life” and “Driven
By Beef” evoke The Knife and Sparks.
Andas peculiar as “The Doll” and
“Blue Tits” are, at heart this is thrilling,
possibly visionary pop. PIERSMARTIN

BADBADNOTGOOD
Talk Memory х.

8/10

Inwiththeold(er) on Toronto
trio'sterrific sixth
Having meton
acollegejazz
programme, BBNG
madea name for
themselves viaan
adventurous side
move – reworking tracks by Tyler, The
Creator. They went on to collaborate
with Ghostface Killah for their fourth
LP, which also featured MF Doom,
but have now returned to their base in
anall-instrumental set ofimprovised
studio performances as lyrical and

soulful as they are virtuosic and
energised. A guestlist including
Laraaji, Arthur Verocai and harpist
Brandee Younger helps summon the
greats (Coltrane, Evans, Dolphy...), but
Talk Memory is no straight homage,

as acid-splashed epic “Signal From
The Noise” and the Sun Ra-ish “Open
Channels” attest. SHARONO'CONNELL

BLACK METEORIC STAR
NYC Beat Box x vo.uminousarts

6/10

Lo-fidrumworkouts fromLCD
Soundsystem's chief synthesist
Her elaborate,
technically adept
take on modular
synth music earned
Gavilan Rayna
Тт ТТТ” Russom the nickname
“The Wizard”. But recovering from
Covid-19 in early 2020, Russom felt
unable to do much more than tinker
with the settings on an analogue drum
machine. Serendipitously, this opened
up an avenue that led to NYC Beat Boxx:
acollection ofrhythm-led tracks that
harks back to the stripped-back pulse
of'8os house music. In moments such
as “Risper Doll” it’s in danger of feeling
toorudimentary. Butits simplicity can
be refreshing, and occasionally -as
on snarky vocal cut “Hey Asshole” –
outright hilarious. LOUISPATTISON

JAMES BLAKE
Friends That Break Your Heart

POLYDORRECORDS
7/10

Award-winning electronicaguru
gets seriouslyheartbroken

Blake's fragmented
post-dubstep has
always had an air of
bleak melancholy,
but nothing he’s done
has been quite as self-
consciously miserable as this. Over
barely-there drum beats and delicate
synth vamps Blake sings ina sobbing
yawn, a man broken by betrayal and
lovelessness. The highlights are low-
key and minimalist - the robot-voiced
ballad “Show Me”, the hypnotic “I’m
So Blessed You're Mine”, and the
drumless lament “Funerelle”. Blake’s
songwriting can invoke odd sources:
the gospel-tinged “Say What You Will”
might suit Springsteen, while “Friends
Who Broke My Heart” isa mournful
hymn ќо lost friendships that recalls
vintage Stevie Wonder. JOHNLEWIS

PIP BLOM
Welcome Break teaventy
8/10

Homage to Catatonia: Dutch
foursome perfect Britpop 2.0
The 1997 Select cover
stars that never were,
Amsterdam boy-girl

pop kids Pip Blom

have not changed

their core values in the
two years since their bumptious debut
LP Boat. Recorded inlockdown in
Ramsgate, and named after the British

EI REVELATIONS ШШШ

BUFFALO DAUGHTER

on the slow genesis of the
Japanese band's new album

S with many musicians,
Г the pandemic played

asignificantrole in the
making of Buffalo Daughter's
latestcollection, which arrives
seven years after Konjac-Tion,
atimespan amounting to
about a quarter of the band's
existence. Things were tricky
from the beginning, however.

"When we started working

in 2017,” suGar Yoshinaga
explains, "we didn't plan to
take this long, but we didn't
have enoughtime to finish.
Yumiko was constantly on tour
asamember of Cornelius's
touringband, MoOog needed
abreak for health reasons, and
Iwasalso composing for TV
or commercials."

Infact, Covid's arrival worked
totheir advantage. "Ithelped
usrunthroughto the finishing
line asit gaveus time physically
andmotivation mentally.
Staying home under lockdown,
we needed to do something
we could devote ourselves to."

This explains the mysterious
phrase "Music is the vitaminto
live under too much pressure
inquarantine" circulating
through opening track
"Music". "There werelots of
thoughts and emotions, with
ups and downs, while making
the albumin this uncertain
world, butit was great to
realisethat music really is our
flesh and blood."

WYNDHAM WALLACE

service station chain, Welcome Break
isadeceptively simple collection of
slightly melancholy bangers; shades
ofthe 1980 Undertones on *You Don't
Want This", nods to Kenickie on killer
single “Keep It Together" and the best
bits of Echobelly on *Faces". However,
the familial resemblance to Pipand
Tender Blom’s dad’s group, awkward
1980s Peel faves Eton Crop, is there.
Play loud, listen carefully. JIM WIRTH

BILLY BRAGG
The Million Things That
Never Happened сооккомьч.

7/10

Bragg's 10thstudio albummakes
themostof isolation
The Million Things...
isbilled asa work
РЧ of “post-pandemic

blues”. That
- ғ description shows
~ acharacteristic

self-deprecating wryness, but Bragg's
latest does deftly articulate the
anxiety and claustrophobia of upset
and confinement. He’s honest about
uncertainties both personal and
political – to the extent, оп *Mid-
Century Modern", of wondering aloud
ifheshould cede his spot on the stage.
Thealbumasa whole engenders
gratitudethat he hasn't. The country-
soulsound Bragg has arrived at suits

such poised ballads as *Lonesome
Ocean" and the title track, and his
folkish rootsare gleefully disinterred
onthe waspish Phil Ochs-esque fable
of “Freedom Doesn't Come For Free”.
ANDREWMUELLER

BUFFALO DAUGHTER
We Are The Times anniversary
9/10

Wildly adventurous pop from
Japanese veterans

3" Despite mid-'9os

Й Grand Royal
4 associations, Buffalo
Daughterremain
beloved mainly by
, those with Japanese
ties. Their ninth album demands
wider attention, the trio’s versatility
playfully intact on “Times”, its surreal
acid-funk-techno switching to wonky
psychedelic space-pop. “Don’t Punk
Out”, too, revives ’80s disco ina Talking
Heads style, with Bobcat Goldthwait
seemingly on vocals, though “Loop”’s
loping route to the dancefloor is even
more frantic. There’s a darker edge
elsewhere, however. Despite a later
exotic excursion, distorted, stuttering
beats deliver “Global Warming Kills Us
AII"s message, while “ET (Densha)”’s
forbidding electro-pop gives no
warning ofits impending, all-out
orchestral assault. WYNDHAM WALLACE

NOVEMBER 2021 - UNCUT : 25

ENNOKAPITZ/DIGITALLY ALTEREDBY KOSUKEKAWAMUR

O NEW ALBUMS

HAYES
CARLL

You Get It All

DUALTONE

8/10

fine releases
since first
making his
mark nearly
20 years ago, Hayes Carll has
never quite received the credit
that his talent demands. Maybe
it’s his low-key demeanour,
perhaps it's the disregard
for showiness, or it could
be the simple fact that he’s
operating in anincreasingly
overcrowded field. But at his
best, as on 2011’s pithy KMAG
YOYO (& Other American Stories)
or 2019’s Dualtone debut What It Is,
the Texan singer-songwriter invites
comparisons to Guy Clark or Jerry Jeff Walker.
You Get It Allshows no dip in quality either.
Co-produced by wife Allison Moorer, who also
oversaw What It Is, it's a set of deceptively simple
songs that cover regret, relationships, triumph
and despair. There’s droll satire too, not least
on “Nice Things”, co-written with the Brothers
Osborne. Over a twanging country stomp, God,
in female form, comes down to Georgia for a
fishing trip, only to wind up in jail. Appalled by
the lack of compassion she encounters and the
environmental havoc wrought by her subjects,

ӘУ” lui DESPITE arun
3 e ofconsistently
NM Ж

“This is why y'all can't have nice things”. At the
other end of the scale sits “Help Me Remember”:

AHEAD of beinginducted
into the Bluegrass Music Hall
of Fame inlate September,

AlisonKrauss has

shescolds humanity as if it were a petulant child:

{ AMERICANA

Album Of The Month

amoving study of dementia set to soft guitar
and pedal steel, the track examines the slow
disintegration of memory and, by extension,
identity. “Did I lightup your life?” he asks,
“Like a full moon at night in December”.

In between, the title track finds Carll
balancing a list of personal flaws and merits
as anillustration of the realities of marriage.
Brandy Clark co-write “In The Mean Times” is
awaltzing country duet that reaches deep into

questions of everyday faith and hope, while “To

Keep From Being Found" is a big, ripe chugger
that sounds like Billy Joe Shaver at his most

laconic. Butit’s the warm and soulful “Different

Boats”, conceived with Moorer and Adam
Landry, that perhaps best expresses Carll's
stoical worldview: *We get what we are given/
And we hope that it floats". ROBHUGHES

ИШШЕШЕЕШЕН AMERICANAROUND-UP НИ

November. The 41-song
collection, available across
five LPs or three CDs, brings

announcedher much-
anticipated studio reunion

together the likes of Bob Weir,
Hiss Golden Messenger, Steve
Earle & The Dukes, Jonathan

DAVIDMCCLISTER, FRANK MELFI

with Robert Plant. Raise The
Roof warnermusicis out in mid-
November, with producer
TBone Burnett reprising his
role from 2007's Raising Sand.
Atop-drawer set of players
(among them Marc Ribot, David Hidalgo,

Bill Frisell and Buddy Miller) help the duo
navigate songs by Merle Haggard, Allen
Toussaint, The Everly Brothers, Anne Briggs,
Bert Jansch, Randy Weeks and more. And
look out for the Plant/Burnett co-write,
"High And Lonesome”. Late singer-guitarist
Neal Casal gets a weighty salute in the
form of Highway Butterfly: The Songs Of
Neal Casal rovatpotatoramity, also due in

26: UNCUT - NOVEMBER 2021

Wilson, Shooter Jennings,
JMascis, PhilLesh, Cass

Alison
Krauss and
Robert Plant

and Susan Tedeschi and

go to the Neal Casal Music
Foundation in aid of various charitable
causes. Produced by Sera Cahoone,
Oregon songwriter Margo Cilker issues

McCombs, AaronLee Tasjan

Derek Trucks. All proceeds will

hugely promising debut Pohorylle roose that
same month. Steeped in classic Americana,

it's abewitching and poetic travelogue of
atroubadourslot.Finally, be sure to catch
Nashville singer-songwriter Diana

who begins her UK tour at Hebden Bridge
Trades Club on September 30. ROBHUGHES

TRÉBURT

You, Yeah, You онвоу
7/10

Ofalltheartists signed to
thelateJohn Prine's Oh
Boylabel, Californian
songwriter Tré Burt may

be the most obviously
congruent — his 2020 debut
Caught It From The Rye was suffused with
waspish drollery evocative of Prine at his
peak. You, Yeah, You is more of the same but
more confident — and includes one song,
*Dixie Red", whichis an explicit homage

to Prine. The determined sparseness of the
arrangements wears somewhat over the
journey, but such excerpts as “Sweet Misery”
and “I Cannot Care” are careworn country
blues fit to be bracketed alongside Todd
Snider and Jerry Jeff Walker. ANDREW MUELLER

CAMPBELL/
MALLINDER/BENGE
Clinker trspisauespucrepuscute
7/10

Ashort, sharply designed

collection of tracks,

fermented over a few

years, Clinker builds
^ onStephen Mallinder

(Cabaret Voltaire) and

Benge’s previous work together in Wrangler
and Creep Show, with Julie Campbell of
LoneLady in tow. It's а febrile set of six songs,
with much ofit suggesting the anxious
avant-grooves of groups like Bush Tetras
and 400 Blows, retooled for 21st-century
precision production. Campbell's itchy,
prickling guitar claws away at the slick yet
sly surfaces of “Camouflage” and “Influx”,
while Mallinder’s vocals are as seething and
dreadwise as ever. Tightly constructed, but
rich with funk-tional possibilities. JONDALE

BRANDI CARLILE
In These Silent Days anannc
7/10

CAMPBELL MALLNOER өкі
TLNGRCMNLP
TW 76 TEM.

It'stooearly to gauge
theextentto which the
lockdown/quarantine
albumis going to become
agenreunto itself but In
These Silent Days emerges
from Carlile's barn bearing the hallmarks
ofa plausible cornerstone: the songs are
introspective, reflective and fretful, all
qualities amplified by its proximity to the
writing of Carlile's acclaimed memoir
Broken Horses. Though ...Silent Days does
notentirely abjure Carlile's instinct for the
high-sheen country-rock radio ballad, most
notably the spectacular title track, its best
momentsare its quieter ones, especially the
Joni Mitchell-ish *This Time Tomorrow" and
*You And Me On The Rock". ANDREWMUELLER

CIRCUIT DES YEUX

-İO матаров
7/10

Op

NEW ALBUMS O

Clinic:
retro-
futurist
funtime

Haley Fohr’s sixth
album as Circuit Des
Yeux was conceived
while she was ona
writer’s retreat in
Florida, mourning
the death of a friend and sheltering

as the pandemic swept across the US.
-io captured something of this surreal
landscape - lush and sun-baked, even
asitdwells on death and thoughts of
apocalypse. “Sculpting The Exodus"
andthespaghetti western-tinged
*Dogma" make good use ofa 24-piece
orchestra, but it’s Fohr's stunning
vocalthat drives the album: a four-
octave voice that stretches between
moments oflilting vulnerability to, on
*Vanishing", acry ofearth-shaking
vengeance. LOUISPATTISON

CLINIC

Fantasy Island »owwo

8/10
2019's Wheeltappers
AndShunters saw
Clinic reach back
into'7os TV culture

- for base material.

_ Here they execute an

about-face, fizzing into the future as
the post-punk generation might have
imagined it, armed with analogue
synths, echoey drums and “electronic
acid bass machine”. The retro-
futurist fun peaks with the bopping
space-disco of the title track and

the irresistible “Refractions (In The
Rain)”, while loungey sax and self-help
guides to meditation smooth “On The
Other Side...”’s journey to the stars.
Awelcome and unexpected cover of
“TCan’t Stand The Rain” is less Ann
Peebles, more Suicide. ROBHUGHES

COTS
Disturbing Body sou»
7/10

After leading various
Canadian indie
bands, Steph Yates’

newincarnation

finds her in more

introspective mood
onaset of haunting songs about the
mysteries of human attraction. It's
more thana folk album, for her sonic
palette also takes in jazz influences
anda lovely bossa nova lilt. Nor is it
quite an auteur record, for producer
Sandro Perri plays a pivotal role in
framing her songs with subtle horns
and keyboards arrangements. Yet this
is Yates baring her soul witha stream-
of-consciousness honesty to the lyrics,
while her gentle acoustic guitar and
delicate vocals shine through with
understated clarity. NIGEL WILLIAMSON

CHARLEY CROCKETT
Music City USA

SONOFDAVY/THIRTY TIGERS

8/10

His10th album

insixyears shows
the Texan country
crooner Charley
Crockett is nothing if

not prolific. Following
the 37-year-old's tribute to late honky-
tonker James Hand, his second release
of 2021is a hefty double LP stacked
with swinging originals, covers and
reversions of his own songs. A perky
take on Stonewall Jackson’s 1965
classic “I Washed My Hands In Muddy
Water” bounces along next to the
horn-assisted Otis Redding-worthy
“ТМееа Your Love”, while the furious
banjo of “Round This World” is fit for
aspaghetti western shoot-out. What
brings them all together is Crockett’s
voice; always heartfelt, warm and
deeply soulful. LEONIECOOPER

DEAFHEAVEN
Infinite Granite

7/10

The black metal and
noise influences

that powered
Deafheaven's
thunderous early
releases have
become barely discernible amid the
shoegaze haze that fills much oftheir
fifth album. Yet whereas the conflict
between the band’s harder and softer
sides has sometimes resulted in a lack
offocus and coherence, the material
hererepresents a more fully developed
synthesis, one that’s more overtly
melodic and often disarmingly pretty.
Even the explosions of old-school fury
that detonate in “Great Mass Of Color”
and “The Gnashing” have an airy
lightness about them, as if these bouts
ofstorminess only exist to intensify the
double rainbows that surround them.
JASON ANDERSON

BELA FLECK
My Bluegrass Неагёвмс
8/10

My Bluegrass
Heartisa bluegrass
albumin nameand
instrumentation only.
Béla Fleck has spent
his 40-year career
pushing the banjo into different realms
— jazz, classical, avant-garde, African
traditions – so that all of those styles
blend together. Partnering with a new
generation of players, including Chris
Thile, Sierra Hull and Billy Strings,
hedelivers a rambunctious set full of
zigzagging arrangements and surprise
flourishes. “Charm School” transforms
briefly into a raga, and “Our Little
Secret” opens with some stabbing

Psycho staccato notes, then gradually
builds to its big-hearted finale - the
album'sfinest moment. STEPHENDEUSNER

PHILIPFROBOS _

Vague Enough ToSatisfy

UPSET THERHYTHM

7/10
Thefirstsolo album

V from half of Atlanta's

Omniisa quizzical
ithing: the soundtrack
of his book ofthe same

title, it’s asideways
turn from the post-punk clamour of
his main outfit. It’s marked by a tinny,
insistent drum machine and the rattle
ofacheap, buzzing organ that sounds
like burlap feels: rough but not too
uncomfortable. Frobos claims it’s
inspired by second-album Suicide
and Lodger-era Bowie, which is fair
enough, butifanything it recalls more
puzzling DIY antecedents — Joe Crow’s
“Compulsion”, or the rickety lounge of
Frank Hannaway & Michael Barclay’s
At Home!. JONDALE

GLOK

Pattern Recognition ss
7/10

GLOK's earliest
releases hid their
creator's identity
because cynics
unwilling to
tolerate Ride's and
Oasis's Andy Bell dallying with
electronica might have dismissed
them as dilettante. His debut
album's unapologetic, though,

with opener “Dirty Hugs” 20
minutes of Underworld rumbles
adding a Spacemen 3-like guitar riff
halfway to emerge asa krautrock
juggernaut. Furtherlengthy
journeys to Underworld territory are
undertaken on *That Time of Night"
and “Maintaining The Machine",
though both lack the Romford gents'
sophistication, while “Closer” flirts
with acid house and “Day Three” with
drone. Those familiar with Creation’s

1991 comp Keeping The Faith will know
the drill. WYNDHAM WALLACE

VIVIEN GOLDMAN

Nextls Now vovrasouwps
7/10

Goldman has worn

many hats down

the decades: music

journalist, publicist

(to Bob Marley, among

others), author,
tertiary teacher and member of The
FlyingLizards. It's herreggae, dub
and post-punk aesthetic, though,
that shapes this, her first recording
since 1981. It’s a set of sparky and
distinctive pop songs - some with
asocio-political bent, like “Russian
Doll”, with its talk of “tent cities under
freeways” and “I Have A Voice”, in
which her declaration rises over piano
and synth - others vérité snapshots.
These include the lilting “Saturday
Afternoon”, where Goldman’s high-
rise vocal recalls Janet Kay’s “Silly
Games” and “Home”, whose hazy,
dub-house style suits her personal
reminiscing. SHARONO'CONNELL

RW HEDGES

Year After Year wonperrutsounp
8/10

by Joined by

regular collaborator,
Е их producer, labelmate
and childhood pal
N s 7 Luca Nieri, Roy
-— Hedges asks, on the

beatific *Far And Wide", *Where are
theold forgotten songs?" He appears

to have found them, carefully pairing
Tin Pan Alley values with pastoral ’60s
arrangements full ofjangling guitars
and tranquil harmonies. The Everly
Brothers haunt the title track, and
Hedges' fondness for The Beatles' more
reflective moments is evident in “Ice In
August”, which is further embellished
by pedal steel, though “Who’s To Care”
is more uplifting. Were The La’s ever
toreform, moreover, they’d scrap for
“A Travelling Road”. WYNDHAM WALLACE

BélaFleck:
zigzagging
arrangements

ALANMESSER, SENTINEL

әш"

JOHNVETTESE

SteelyDan,
studio
perfection
onstage

STEELY DAN/
DONALD FAGEN

Northeast Corridor: Steely Dan Live!/
Donald Радепѕ Тһе Nighttly Live

7/10, 7/10

STEELY DAN have

a well-deserved
reputation as the
ultimate studio band.
During their 1970s
heyday, Walter Becker
and Donald Fagen
became increasingly
meticulous when

it came to session
musicians and state-
of-the-art recording
techniques, creating
- LPsthatstill stand as
theepitome of sonic perfectionism for the
era. That elevated level of craftsmanship
always carried with it a healthy dose of
irony, of course. Steely Dan's records
sounded perfect but the jaded, wasted
and weird characters who populated
thelyrics were the opposite.

Preferring the hermetically sealed
environment ofthe studio to dingy clubs
and theaters, Becker and Fagen stopped
touring in the mid-1970s. Unlike most of
their classic rock peers, there's no double-
liveSteely Dan collection from the era to
enjoy (though the curious should seek out
thevarious bootlegs and radio broadcasts
that circulate on the web). Until now, the
only official live album of the band was the
slightly underwhelming Alive In America,
recorded during their first reunion tours in
1993 and 1994. The new Northeast Corridor:
Steely Dan Live! and alive remake of Fagen’s

те
m. €

28-UNCUT-NOVEMBER2021

The Nightfly, both recorded on tourin the
US in 2019, add a considerable (if relative)
weight to the band's live legacy on record.
Purists will no doubt point out that
the group as documented on these two
releases is missing an essential ingredient:
Walter Becker himself, who passed away
ofesophageal cancer in 2017. While his
elegant, understated playing is certainly
missed, Becker’s spirit inevitably looms
over Northeast Corridor, which cherry-
picks some of his and Fagen's finest
compositions. Predictably, most of the
selections come from the 1970s - though
the one post-reunion number included
is perhaps a sly nod from Donald to his
departed co-founder and longtime friend:
“Things I Miss The Most”, from 2003’s
Everything Must Go, is a divorcee’s lament
but it’s more sweet than bitter here, a
wistful look back. “The days really don’t
last forever but it's getting pretty damn
close,” Fagen sings, “and that's when
Tremember the things I miss the most".
Anyway, one can only imagine that
Becker would likely approve of Northeast
Corridor. Steely Dan’s latter-day lineup
plays impeccably and they’re captured
with well-nigh studio-worthy sonics. Most
importantly, those intricate arrangements
that Becker and Fagen slaved over backin
the day remain firmly in place, for the most
part. Now, you may ask what the point of
such painstaking recreations is when
you can just go put Aja on the turntable.

SLEEVE NOTES

CORRIDOR:
STEELY DANLIVE!
1BlackCow
2Kid
Charlemagne
3RikkiDon'tLose
ThatNumber
4Hey Nineteen

5 Any Major Dude
Will Tell You
6Glamour
Profession

7 Things! Miss
TheMost

8Aja

9Peg
10Bodhisattva
11Reelin'In

The Years
12AManAin't
SupposedToCry

DONALDFAGEN'S
THENIGHTFLY LIVE
16Ү
2GreenFlower
Street
3RubyBaby
4Maxine
5NewFrontier
6TheNightfly
7TheGoodbye
Look
8WalkBetween
Raindrops
SS
Producedby:
Donald Fagen

& Patrick Dillett
Recordedat:

The Beacon
Theatre, TheMet
Philadelphia, and
other venues
Personnel: Donald
Fagen(vocals,
keyboards), Keith
Carlock (drums),
"Ready" Freddie
Washington
(bass), Jim Beard
(keyboards), Jon
Herington (guitar),
Walt Weiskopf, Ari
Ambrose, Roger

Rosenberg(saxes),

MichaelLeonhart
(flugelhorn,
trumpet), Jim
Pugh(trombone),
CarolynLeonhart,
Catherine Russell,
LaTanyaHall,
Cindy Mizelle
(backing vocals)

But while Fagen and co show nointerest
inwholly reinventing Steely Dan's most
beloved songs, thelivesetting does add
avitalsparkto them. Think of Steely
Danthese daysin the sameterms as the
late-period Duke Ellington Orchestra – а
powerfully swinging repertory ensemble
with nothing to prove but plenty to give.

Andgivethey do over the course of
Northeast Corridor's dozen tracks.
Aspecial shoutout must be given to
drummer Keith Carlock, whose superb
kitwork has been driving the band since
thelate 1990s. Steely Dan's grooves are
nothing if not demanding and their studio
records feature some ofthe greatest
drummers ofall time (fim Gordon,
Bernard Purdie, Steve Gadd and others).
But Carlock makes it all feel effortless,
whether finding a deliciously crisp
funkiness on *Hey Nineteen" or rollicking
through “Reelin’ In The Years". He grabs
the spotlight on Aja’s title track, taking
Gadd’s famous drum solo into exciting
new territory. This ever-luminous song
is Northeast Corridor’s high point, an
ambitious collective undertaking that
captivates throughout its eight-plus
minutes, showcasing the dazzling
skills of this group, from keys to
horns to guitar to backing vox.

Those skills are also on full display
on The Nightfly Live — as advertised,
astart-to-finish run-through of the
songwriter's 1982 solo debut. Musically,
the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree
when it came to Fagen away from Steely
Dan but The Nightfly does have a more
personal vibe to it; Fagen once called it
“vaguely autobiographical”, a concept
album that’s equal parts nostalgia for
and satire of the baby boomer generation.
Presented here, it’s as good as ever, with
the horn section adding a warmth that’s
absent in the somewhat synth-ier textures
of the original, which utilised early digital
recording techniques.

What stands out most is how strong
avocalist Fagen remains even in his
seventies. His voice is soulful and wry
throughout, his phrasing immaculate;
Don’s idol, Ray Charles, would be proud.
Fagen sounds like he’s having a ball,
romping through Leiber & Stoller’s “Ruby
Baby”, and crooning a beautifully blue
“The Goodbye Look”. Fagen’s lyrics
almost always contain some amount of
cynicism but The Nightfly onstage gives
off mostly positive vibrations. “Whata
beautiful world this will be/What a glorious
time to be free,” Fagen sings in the opening
“IGY”. It’s a sentiment that shouldn't be
taken at face value but one can’t help but
giveinto the naïve optimism as the cooing
backup vocals and swelling choruses lift
thesonginto the stratosphere.

Neither The Nightfly Live nor
Northeast Corridor’s remakes will replace
the originals, of course. But both serve as
effective calling cards for Steely Danin
the 21st century - the ultimate studio
band transformed into the ultimate
live band.

andraising
theDead

ELSA HEWITT
LUPA TOMPKINS SQUARE

7/10

Elsa Hewitt's

newest album opens
somewhere between
Saturday night and
the morning after.

R “Howl” combines
synth, birdsong and barely-there
vocals in a masterclass of tension,
building towards a release that arrives
notas an explosion butas a whisper.
The prolific London-based producer

= LUPA 15 Hewitt’s sixth album-length
release since 2017 — weaves together
organic and electronic sounds to
create music that is sometimes
immersive, sometimes minimalist,
promising comfort and challenge in
turn. Although nominally nine tracks,
Hewitt's improvisational, one-take
recording style lends the album a
single sonic feel, from the dreamily
cryptic “Car In The Sun” to the beats-
driven “Inhaler” and tender “IFM”.
LISA-MARIEFERLA

SCOTT HIRSCH

Windless Day ECHOMAGIC
7/10

A founding member
ofthe North Carolina
band Hiss Golden
Messenger, Scott
Hirsch moved all the
way to the opposite
end of the country to kickstart his solo
career, and his third album draws

on hazy West Coast sounds, like the
chugging country funk of “Spirit True”
and the sunset folk rock of “Night
People”. At times he flirts with pastiche
but Windless Day is best when Hirsch
scouts out new territory. “Drummer
OfShiloh" isaneerie, ambient folk
instrumental that sounds like a ghost
haunting that battlefield, and standout
“Wolves” throws a tent revival for a
congregation of lost, stoned souls.
STEPHENDEUSNER

HOWLIN RAIN
The Dharma Wheel sivercurrent
7/10

+, Ethan Miller’s Howlin
Des Rain seem to view
) the pastas ample
nourishment rather
than mere nostalgia.
The Dharma Wheel
channels the Allman Brothers,
Grateful Dead, Crazy Horse and more
inits generous spirit, exemplified by

NEW ALBUMS O

acefunk jam “Don’t Let The Tears" and
the fuzz-pedal boogie of *Rotoscope",
which detours into a moody Doors
rumble. One-time Dylan foil Scarlet
Rivera brings her distinctive violin

to bear throughout, with the CRB’s
Adam MacDougall on keys. It's all so
persuasively realised too, particularly
the epic psychedelic blowout “Dharma
Wheel”, which boils, dissolves and
then fans outward like a controlled
explosion. ROBHUGHES

IMMERSION WITH
TARWATER, LAETITIA
SADIER, ULRICH
SCHNAUSS, SCANNER

Nanocluster Vol 1 sww-

7/10

In parallel with his
work with post-punk
mainstays Wire, Colin
Newman and Malka
Spigel have quietly

worked in leftfield

electronic music through their label
swim~. On Nanocluster Vol1, their duo
project Immersion touches base with
some veterans of the genre. For all
this, itsounds like a complete work:
ablend of dreamy electronica and
rainswept post-rock through which
Newman's distinctive vocal - arch,
cryptic, interrogatory — occasionally
breaks cover. The standout is “Riding
The Waves”, a breezy duet with Sadier
that affectionally recalls the elegantly
crafted pop futurism of her work with
Stereolab. LOUISPATTISON

INDIGO

Part 1 musiccompany

8/10
PI Indigoisthelatest
822 project by Nick Roder,
itm aMelbourne composer

whose day job involves
soundtracking video

games. Thisisa
world away from that: Part 1 is atender
exploration ofthe interplay between
bass guitar and tenor saxophone
that unravels elegantly across nine
tracks. Roder’s supple plucking –
onaninstrument he'd not played
before – fashions a framework for Jon
DiNapoli's dulcet sax, together creating,
on “The Great State” and “Separation

Anxiety”, music that seems to yearn
whilesounding entirely at ease. Even
the jazzy overtures of “The Australian
Dream” are reined in, making thisa
cool and uncomplicated set.
PIERSMARTIN

JEAN-MICHEL JARRE
Welcome To The Other Side

SONY

6/10

Asif Notre-Dame

hasn’t suffered
enough, on New
Year’s Eve Jean-Michel
Jarre staged his latest
son et lumière “inside”
avirtual-reality reconstruction of the
cathedral, watched live by 75 million.
Welcome To The Other Side captures
the French synth maestro ringing in
2021 witha pumping set largely drawn
from Oxygene and his recent all-star
Electronica albums. Divorced from the
show’s graphics, Jarre’s music can lose
its magic when retooled for a spectacle,
yet the moment an “Oxygene” melody
twinkles on the horizon, it becomes
astrangely intimate affair. Jarre has
been outflanked musically for some
time but his zeal for technology
always impresses. PIERSMARTIN

JOHN
NocturnalManoeuvres
BRACE YOURSELF RECORD/PETS CARE

7/10

Formed in 2013 by
Johns Newton and
Healy, the pair’s

musical vehicle

has allowed them

to explore frenzied
noise rock married to cacophonous
rhythms -and attracted the interest
ofIdles. Learning of this relationship
is unsurprising after listening to
their third LP, featuring as it does
Idles’ own Adam Devonshire on the
rip-roaring “Sibensko Powerhouse”.
Opener “Return To Capital” indicates
an alluring cinematic flavour that is
not explored nearly enough. What’s in
heavy supply, though, is invigorating
punk/metal workouts anda burning
thematic focus on modern political
issues, delivered with appropriate
levels of indignant fury. ANDY PRICE

Ladyhawke:
bootsonthe
ground

AMYTHYST KIAH
Wary + Strange ROUNDER

8/10

As part of Rhiannon
Giddens’ 2019 project
Our Native Daughters,
Kiahearneda
Grammy nomination
for best American
roots song for “Black Myself”. Here the
song'soriginal acoustic treatment is
given astonking rock makeover in the
styleof Alabama Shakes. Elsewhere
sheexplores a panoply of roots-based
styles оп aset of unflinching songs that
examine her mother’s suicide, being a
black queer woman and her struggles
with substance abuse. On “Fancy
Drones (Fracture Me)” she wails
mightily, while “Ballad Of Lost” finds
her coming over like Loretta Lynn, and
on the folk-pop of “Soapbox” she could
pass as Tracy Chapman’s sister.

NIGEL WILLIAMSON

LADYHAWKE
Time Flies smc
6/10

Pip Brown has lived
several lifetimes in
the five years since her

| last album - returning

to her native New

Zealand, re-releasing
her 10-year-old debut and dealing with
skin cancer, post-natal depression
and anxiety. Time Flies, though, is
nota place for rehashing old traumas.
Instead, it’s a glitter-souled combat
boot ofan album, a rebirth built on pop
hooks and stadium-sized choruses. It’s
notalways оп the right side of cliché
but, when it works, it’s glorious: Josh
Fountain co-write “Think About You”
is aslinky Janelle Monae-inspired ode
to good vibes and bad choices; “Loner”
aself-directed pep talk; and “Guilty
Love” an irresistible tale of giving up
Catholicism for queer love and Pat
Benatar guitar licks. LISA-MARIEFERLA

SHANNONLAY

Geist suspop
9/10
IfShannon Lay’s solo
е ЛА. A expression has been
p asteady blooming
across three albums,
H Geist represents its
full-blown folkish

splendour. Not that it's at all showy —
subtlety is her watchword - but these
10 (mostly acoustic) songs shine with
aluminous intensity. Lay's voice isa
thing of burnished beauty, quiet and
warm but with a certain gravity, while
fillingthesongsoutisateam of (remote)
players including old pal Ty Segall,
who delivers a brief, ringing soloon
“Shores”. Picking highlights is tough
but the divinely harmonised “Rare To
Wake” and “Untitled”, with its dappled
keys and jazz-slanted guitar flourishes,
are among them. SHARONO'CONNELL

NOVEMBER 2021 -UNCUT : 29

LULA CUCCHIARA, RAENIMILLER

LILIPEPER

O NEW ALBUMS

MASTONWITHLECLAIR

Souvenir innovativeteisure
7/10

Los Angelestransplant selects
thefinest Swiss cheese
Having built
areputation

forhistwiston
retro synthsand
European film scores,
Amsterdam-based
American Frank Maston - also
partnered in PAINT with Allah-Las’
Pedrum Siadatian – hooks up with
Switzerland's L'Eclair, protégés of
Altin Giin studio associate Jasper
Geluk, also present here. Their
nostalgiais, like Soundcarriers’,
rose-tinted: a vibraphone helps
“ГЕап Blue" flow like Air's Premiere
Symptómes floats, an approach

to which “Swiss Franc” addsan
early Morcheeba swagger and “Les
Monstres" a sophisticated sense of
mischief worthy of High Llamas.
There's kitsch here too but in Stereolab
and Plone measures, as on the
spectral-voiced, sweetly chugging
“Ghost”. WYNDHAM WALLACE

МАС McCAUGHAN
The Sound Of Yourself merce

7/10

Second solo albumfrom
Superchunkmainman

Ithas become

a familiar story —

creative musician

stranded at home,

gigscancelled and

band dispersed as
one day blurs into the next. What to
do? Like countless others, McCaughan
recorded solo, sending tracks offto
thelikes ofYo La Tengo and Mountain
Goats when he needed some socially
distanced backing. The resultis a
delightful mix of new-wave-influenced
pop (“I Hear The Radio” and “Circling
Around”) and synth-laden Eno-style
instrumentals (“R Dream” and “36
And Rain”). When the roll call of fine
lockdown records is compiled, The
Sound Of Yourself deserves a place
somewhere on the list. NIGEL WILLIAMSON

MILD HIGH CLUB

Going Going Gone tonesturow
5/10
LAindietalisman'sjazzy third

Kot etri Last spotted
Да canoodling in the
EY court ofKing Gizzard

e
ў

I^ ontheir2017 split LP

Wes} Sketches Of Brunswick
АЯ East, Mild High

Club's Alex Brettin has yet to really

capitalise on the potent strain of wispy

MildHigh Club:
goingout

-——

30*UNCUI- МӨУЕМВЕН2021 %

psychedelia he synthesised five years
ago for his moreish Skiptracing. Now
his signature style appears to be light
jazz-funk, which he sprinkles liberally
across Going Going Gone, and akind of
schmaltzy boom-bap that pitches the
newrecord somewhere between Dam-
Funkand Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
Itstill possesses a certain screwball
charm, particularly the curdled croon
of “I Don’t Mind The Wait”, but too
often sounds like smug pastiche.

PIERS MARTIN

MILDRED MAUDE

Sleepover SONIC CATHEDRAL
7/10

Cornwall trio seek bliss
inlengthy instrumentals
Named after drummer
Louie Newlands’
grandmother, Mildred
6 Maude win few prizes
» for complexity but
plenty for mesmeric
tenacity. This second album offers
three guitar-led epics, their krautrock
tendencies coloured by hypnagogic
textures beloved ofSonic Youth
and Slowdive, whose Simon Scott
mastered the record. “Trevena”’s
intensity repudiates its simplicity
with 10 minutes of restrained tension
swaddled in glide guitar, and “Elliott’s
Floor”’s swathes of soaring distortion
noisily recall Swervedriver's. “Glenn
Plays Moses”, meanwhile, doubles
these tracks’ length, bending guitar
strings amida frenzy of feedback,
but “Chemo Brain” takes just three
minutes to refuel Daydream Nation’s
“Silver Rocket”. WYNDHAM WALLACE

MOUTH PAINTER
Tropicale Moon

8/10

Pedalsteelpurveyor paints
acosmic picture

You may recognize
Barry Walker Jr from
his cosmic pedal

steel contributions

to recent records

by Rose City Band,
North Americans and Hearts Of Oak,
not to mention his own excellent
Shoulda Zenith from 2020. Mouth
Painter, Walker Jr’s band with flautist/
vocalist Valerie Osterberg and bassist
Jason Willmon, expands that already
teeming universe considerably. The
band’s second LP, Tropicale Moon, is
an absorbing and eclectic mix of
ambient country, hazy folk rambles
and dreamlike exotica. Tying it all
together are Walker Jr and Osterberg’s
rich harmonies, often calling to
mind the classic Louvin Brothers
vocal blend. The trio is just getting
started but they’ve already painteda
masterpiece with this one. TYLER WILCOX

KACEY MUSGRAVES
Star Crossed interscope/uMGNASHVILLE
8/10

Abreakuprecordthat'sboth
heartbreaking and hopeful

MOUTHPAINTER

LUTEand pedal
steel- the instrumental
combination you didn't

know youneeded? Portland,
Oregon's Mouth Painter, made
up of husband-and-wife duo
Barry Walker Jr and Valerie
Osterberg plus bassist Jason
Willmon, make it soundlike the
most obvious (and beautiful)
thingin the world. “It wasn't a
contrived thing," says Walker
Jr." Valplays the flute and! play
the pedalsteel. We just ended
up bringing them together."
Walker's style fits nicely
within the burgeoning cosmic
Americana scene, with fellow
travellerslike Chuck Johnson
and SUSS able to find fresh
approaches to the instrument.
“| think it goes back to Daniel
Lanois on Eno's Apollo," he says

oncreating cosmic moods

oftherecent pedalsteel
resurgence. "Also, in the
past decade, country music
has become more widely
accepted.People are seeing
howitcanbe incorporated into
apsychedelic, experimental
experience.’

Tropicale Moon,
Mouth Painter's second LP,
is apleasingly hazy, often-
uncategorisable collection,
drawing from vintage country,
private-press psychandeven
the mid-century "mood music"
of Les Baxter andhisilk. "We're
big fans of that exoticasound,”
Osterberg confirms. “Ilove
creating new spaces and
musicis very muchlike that
for me. It's about feeling like
l'm somewhere completely
different." TYLER WILCOX

Musgraves’ latest

album chronicles

the aftermath of

her recent divorce

and serves as a sad

sequel to her beloved
2018 breakthrough Golden Hour. That
album peppered her happy songs
with moments of melancholy, while
Star Crossed scrounges for signs of
hope amid her despair and confusion.
Musgraves’ superpower is her ability to
convey complex emotions via concise
phrasing, which means quieter songs
suchas “Good Wife” and “If This Was A
Movie” hit especially hard. Eventually
she finds catharsis in the climactic flute
solo that caps “There Is A Light” anda
kaleidoscopic cover of Mercedes Sosa’s
“Gracias A La Vida”. STEPHENDEUSNER

HAYDENPEDIGO
Letting Go mexicansummer

8/10

Poignant Panhandle ambience
fromanaccidental politician

Like his viral

2019 campaign

for Amarillo City
Council - which
t began asa series of

i bizarre online videos
before turning into sincere advocacy
— Hayden Pedigo’s latest album of
experimental guitar instrumentals
might strike some asa joke: just check
out that ridiculous KISS-meets-Del-

Reeves album cover. But Pedigo’s
music is disarming in its careful
songcraft and its immersive desert
ambience. An ingenious writer and
picker, he deploys new tricks on every
song, like the spidery riffthat skitters
through *Some Kind Of Shepherd" and
theendofthetitletrack that sounds
like a truck sputtering on an empty
desert highway. STEPHENDEUSNER

NOLANPOTTER
Music Is Dead casterace
8/10

Highlights from the Texan's
lockdown trove of bedroompsych
Nolan Potter
kept busy during
lockdown, creating

several albums’ worth

of wild yet intricate

psychedelic goodness.
As expansive in nature and fulsomein
texture as his work with the Nightmare
Band, the six songs on Potter’s second
outing for Castle Face belie their origins
as one-man recordings. That said, the
askew baroque-pop of “Holy Scroller”
suggests his debt to the similarly self-
sufficient Todd Rundgren. Meanwhile,
the shifts between face-melting attack
and languid sprawl in “Stubborn
Bubble” connects Music Is Dead to King
Gizzard’s Castle Face tenure. Elsewhere,
Potter’s freaky visions feel very much
like his own bag.
JASONANDERSON

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O NEW ALBUMS

POND

9

SPINNING TOP

7/10
Following a series

| ofincreasingly

refined albums,
Pond have radically
changed things up,
working without

Kevin Parker for the first timein the
band'sexistence and hammering
jams into song form in pursuit of
what frontman Nick Allbrook
describes as “abstract messiness”.
After reaching for Bowie-esque
grandeur on the opening “Song

For Agnes”, they lock into an INXS-
style chromium-funk groove on
“America’s Cup” and reimagine
The Clash as asynth-punk band on
the speed-burner “Human Touch”.
Guitarist Joe Ryan stays under wraps
until he spins out the gilded theme
melody on stately closer “Toast”,
but Jamie Terry is working overtime
throughout, as his serpentine
basslines coil tightly around the
whipsawing sonics, maintaining
order amid near-chaos. BUDSCOPPA

RPBOO

Established! panetmu
8/10

On Established!,
footwork producer
RP Boo makes a virtue

the forefathers of this
most febrile genre.
He takes footwork’s characteristics —
nervous-jerk, clattering snares; rapid-
fire repeating snippets of voice - and
intensifies their hypnotic possibilities,
all while scrolling personal and
cultural narratives that gesture toward
a potted history of dance music from
Chicago. There’s plenty here to startle,
to catch you looking: the teetering
structures of “How 2 Get It Done!”; the
sweetly strung synths of “All Over”;
the gorgeous lattice of soul vocals
and percolating beats that start
“Just Like That!”. It’s consummate.
JONDALE

XENIA RUBINOS
UnaRosa

8/10

Rubinos’ unique

sonic worldview

draws upon her

love of 20th-century

orchestral music,

her jazz training at
Berklee music school and her Cuban
and Puerto Rican heritage. Her third
album in 10 years sees Rubinos
adopting assorted personae in Spanish

32-UNCUT -NOVEMBER2021

and English. On *Did My Best" she's
avocodered party girl mourning the
death ofa friend; on *Don't Put MeIn
Red” she'saforthright Latina abusing
and then charming her foes; on “What
Is This Voice?” she’s an awestruck
bossa nova siren rendered inarticulate
by her rapturous love of music.It’s a
slightly exhausting but often thrilling
sonic voyage.

JOHNLEWIS

TY SEGALL
Harmonizer

7/10

On Harmonizer,
Ty Segall rides

electronics deep
into the heart of his
songs. Cooper Crain
of Bitchin’ Bajas
pitches in on co-production, gifting the
album a hyper-sensual sheen, adding
alambent glow to the ecstatic energy
of “Pictures” (shades of Nirvana in its
nagging chorus). Elsewhere, “Ride” is
athuggish prowl, while the title track
is chipped and mechanical. In lesser
hands it could feel dilettantish, and
Segall has risked that on previous
occasions, but Harmonizeris strong
enough to stand on its own. It’s another
perfectly good Ty Segall album, full

of perfectly good Ty Segall songs.
JONDALE

SELF ESTEEM

Prioritise Pleasure

FICTION

8/10

4 Rebecca Taylor's

debutsolo album
Compliments
Please was sharply
self-aware and

a a emotionally

candid, while flirting with multiple
musical styles. Two years on, her
sound is equally ambitious but

more committed: here are modern,
maximalist pop songs with top notes
of R&B, trap and Afrobeat, plus
experimental detailing. As ever,
Taylor’s lyrics convince, whether she’s
examining her social awkwardness,
independence or achievement anxiety,
and humour leaps out unexpectedly
(“Sexting you at the mental health talk
seems counterproductive”, opens
“Moody”). There are no misfires, but
“IDo This All The Time", a deadpan
monologue with a quasi-gospel
chorus, and the darkly abrasive “How
Can Help You” are especially strong.
SHARONO'CONNELL

NALA SINEPHRO
Space 1. 8 ware

9/10

Rebecca
Taylor,aka
SelfEsteem:
savvy pop

i

^ In common with the

London jazz scenein

which she makes her
—. home, NalaSinephro's

= musicis poised
- between modernity

and tradition, Space 1.8’s more languid
moments hark back to the spiritually
inclined music of the Coltranes (both
John and Alice). To this, Sinephro
adds more contemporary flavours —
rippling modular synths and electronic
loops that align her music with later
generations of cosmic explorers. There’s
abusy guestlist, with impressive
cameos from saxophonists Nubya
Garcia and James Mollison of Ezra
Collective. But what sticks with Space
1.8is the focus ofits vision: precise like
mathematics but imbued with a rich,
cosmic breadth. LOUISPATTISON

e.

Y

OMARSOSA &
SECKOUKEITA
Suba
BENDIGEDIG
8/10
After Keita's award-
f winning album
> e Soar with the Welsh
- harpist Catrin Finch,
"£n theSenegal-born but

LI umen

British-based kora
player teams up for a second time with
Grammy-nominated Cuban pianist
Sosa, picking up where 2017's gorgeous
Transparent Water left off. Although
Sosa occasionally breaks into a more
syncopated Afro-Cuban groove, as

on “Маап”, for the most part the
mood is meditative and weightless,
with Keita adding soft-toned vocals

to his cascading kora on half the
tracks. The results defy classification,
floating felicitously between spiritual
jazz, New Age ambience and African
tradition with splashes of classical
cello and flute ona record that offers
balm and solace. NIGEL WILLIAMSON

SOUTHERN AVENUE
Be TheLove You Want

RENEW/BMG

6/10

You can hear why
they were once signed
to Stax, for Southern
Avenue specialise in
passionate anthems
and snare-tight
grooves, and this third LP continues
to drink deep from the Memphis soul
brew. It’s more than simply retro,
though. Frontwoman Tieriniiand
drummer/sister Tikyra Jackson deliver
the taut, joyous harmonies that can
only come with shared DNA, while Ori
Naftaly cranks out deliciously heavy
blues guitar work. Motivational single
“Push Now” is a representative calling
card: via crystalline production from
Grammy-winner Steve Berlin, arather
one-dimensional self-help lyricis
transformed into energising, inventive
musical empowerment. MARKBENTLEY

JACKET

My Morning Jacket ...
8/10

Jim puts the band back together

MY MORNING

and their

name back in lights. By Wyndham Wallace

“THERE is nothing
like returning toa
place that remains
unchanged,” Nelson
Mandela wrote in
The Long Walk To
Freedom, “to find
the ways in which you yourself have
altered.” My Morning Jacket’s goals were
unmistakably less arduous than the
freedom fighter’s, but doubtless they,
too, encountered comparable sentiments
when they reconvened in late 2019 for their
first recordings since 20165 The Waterfall.
Though The Waterfall II, compiled
from the same sessions, arrived last year,
the band’s future has remained uncertain
throughout their hiatus. Jim James has
released five solo albums and guitarist
Carl Broemel two, while keyboardist Bo
Koster was all over Jake Shears's 2018
debut and also joined Roger Waters'
lengthy Us + Them world tour. Indeed,
theentire band, James excepted, has
spent time recording or performing with
Ray Lamontagne and Strand Of Oaks,
suggesting that confidence in MMJ's
long-term prospects were waning. The
possibilities, therefore, that their ninth
album would tread water or, worse still,
sinkbeneath the weight of expectations,
were significant.

Fortunately, My Morning Jacket, its title
emphasising its intended definitive status,
isfrequently thrilling, and its pilfering
from America's classic rock catalogue
— including The Allman Brothers, The
Doobie Brothers, Creedence Clearwater
Revival, The Band and Crazy Horse - is
affectionate and celebratory. Like LCD
Soundsystem, the quintet has absorbed
thegoosebumped highlights oftheir
record collection, instinctively — yet
crucially, shrewdly - furnishing stirring
moments of familiar if not immediately
attributable theatre to otherwise
surprisingly simple songs. It's still
unambiguously My Morning Jacket, in
other words, but revitalised and redeemed.

SLEEVE NOTES

1 Regularly
Scheduled
Programming
2LoveLoveLove
3In Color
4LeastExpected
5NeverInThe
Real World
6TheDevil'sIn
The Details
7Lucky ToBe Alive
8Complex

9 Out Of Range
Pt2

10Penny For Your
Thoughts
111Never Could
GetEnough
——s
Producedby:

Jim James
Recordedat:

64 Sound,

Los Angeles
Personnel: Jim
James (vocals,
guitar), Tom
Blankenship
(bass), Patrick
Hallahan (drums),
CarlBroemel
(electric guitar,
Ebowedelectric
guitar, slide
electric guitar,
baritone and
tenor saxophone,
pedalsteel),
BoKoster
(keyboards),
BrianaLee and
MaiyaSykes
(backing vocals)

NEW ALBUMS O

Opener “Regularly Scheduled
Programming” sets out their stall,
offering all the hallmarks ofa band who've
rediscovered how rock music is sometimes
more about great chemistry than great
songs. Certainly, atits outset they sound
at peace. “Diamonds are growing in the
garden", James croons to an organ's
hum anda synthesiser's gentle pulse,
“Raindrops are filling up the sea”. Such
Edens rarely last, however. The group
flesh out the song’s elemental shape,
adding layer upon layer, not to mention
Briana Lee's and Maiya Sykes's gospel-
tinged backing vocals, before Koster's
keyboards muscle up, providing drama
forthe final, stumbling minute. It'slike
deep Southern-fried Spiritualized.

This expansive technique is
employed at even greater length
on “The Devil's In The Details", built
principally around the repetition of two
chords justa tone apart stretched out
tonine minutes. James's protracted,
sometimes nostalgic reflections upon
our complicity in capitalism's excesses
— “Growing up at the mall/Amidst the
fruits of slavery” deploys convenient but
arguably suitably extravagant hindsight
—are largely responsible, but his soulful
extemporisations, Blankenship’s
restrained rhythm and Koster’s uncoiling
keyboard lines are vital accomplices.

In fact, it’s ashock to realise less thana

third of the song remains by the time Lee
and Sykes foreshadow its unexpectedly
satisfying, low-key jazz-rock conclusion,
completed by Carl Broemel’s switch from
guitar to saxophone.

Elsewhere, “Love Love Love”
chugs along ona gritty groove, James’s
mouth sticky, relishing some words,
spitting others out, and on *Penny For
Your Thoughts" his distorted delivery
somehow turns “it all adds up" into "et erl
ay-ads erp". By “Never In The Real World”
he’s almost gargling syllables, a flurry
of organ vibrations and ripped guitars,
complete with Thin Lizzy harmonies,
tearing things open. “Complex” also goes
for the jugular, opening with Genesis prog
before bluntly combining synths veering
wildly between Prince and The Who with
AC/DCand T.Rex riffage, leaving amps
frazzled and James's voice at its rawest.

Ifsuch flamboyance seems implausible,
James reminds us pointedly on “In
Color" that there's “more to life/Than
just black and white/So many shades in
between”. His pleas for social tolerance
are now drenched in sweet reverb, his
accompaniment shifting from pastoral
optimism to more sinister territory, a
key change ushering in an increasingly
frantic instrumental safari and Pink
Floyd resolution. In fact, only James’s
occasionally idealistic sloganeering
-like the psych-soft rock “Least
Expected”’s “Only one Earth/We share
it all" — and “Lucky To Be Alive"'s
novelty-song cheer misfire, and even
the latter is rescued by crowd-pleasing
satire about how “technology came
andstole my living", then sideswiped
by another Floyd-esque intervention
heralding another mighty climax.

With James overseeing the album’s
production and engineering as well as
its songwriting, eschewing almost all
outside studio assistance, My Morning
Jacket is clearly dedicated to reviving two
decades of camaraderie, as polished as
The Waterfall but, like their live shows,
heavier and harder. Older and wiser
the band may be, but if they’ve altered
otherwise, it appears to have been to
everyone's benefit. A change is as
good asa rest, after all. It seems they've
exploited both.

Jim James on Covid
andcarpe diem

How muchdid those
'comeback' shows
play intohow [е
арргоасһеа

new album?

The2019 showsreally
reminded mehow muchl
love playing with the guys
andhowmuchmagic we
share. It's easy to getburnt
out onsomethingif youdon't
manage your timeright, so
havingsome time andspace
away really revealed that.

Wasitcrucialto
beself-sufficient
whenrecording?

Itwas something we always
knew buthadnottriedina
longtime. Ѕіпсе 1 knowhow
torunarecordingstudio,
once wehaditallsetup
withhelp from the folks at
64 Sound, just ranit myself.
We were abletoreally

relax andletlooseandbe
vulnerableina way wehadn't
beenabletosince the old
days whenwehadour own
studio andit wasliterally just
thebandmembers.

Many songs appear
tobe about theneed
toconnect with
something deeper.
Was that how you were
feeling at the time?
That'showl'mconstantly
feeling:how do wecut
throughallthe bullshit and
getdownto something real?
IthinkCovidhasbeenagreat
teacherinthat way, showing
usthereisnomore time for
theBSbecause tomorrowis
never promised, solet's try
andhealthings.
INTERVIEW:ROBHUGHES

NOVEMBER2021 - UNCUT : 33

AUSTINNELSON

GORDONASHWORTH

text (| Y wT Чы
S ade KRANKY
9/10

Gorgeously deep water songs, singing out
from Oregon's North Coast. By Jon Dale

"THE Columbia river
mouthisa chaotic
and beautiful place,"
Liz Harris, aka
Grouper, reflects,
discussing the
relationship between
theelements and her music, and thinking
about where she currently lives, in Astoria,
Oregon. “It is a doorway to the ocean,
always in radical flux. The tide, the wind,
the current, the rain. We get maritime
weather here that does not hit the rest
of the coast. Storms calm/reassure me.”
This observation may surprise longtime
listeners to Grouper, who often finda
beatific radiance in Harris’s blurred,
dissolving songs. But it speaks to the way
oppositions oscillate in Grouper’s music,
something particularly noticeable on her
latest album, Shade.

Ever since Harris started releasing her
own music, with the Grouper and Way
Their Crept albums from 2005, she's
beenona creative quest, nudging her
songs, which sitsomewhere between
folk, psychedelic pop and shoegaze, into
yet more mysterious territory. There's no
definable narrative here — Grouper’s music
isn’t getting clearer or more abstract.
Rather, Harris seems to be ina state of
becoming, reflecting that “radical flux"
ofthe river mouth she so loves. The songs
can be gorgeously melodic, as with some
of2008's Dragging A Dead Deer Up A
Hill, or they can be deeply choral and
disorienting, like the long pieces on the
2019 double album she released under the
pseudonym Nivhek.

34- UNCUT- NOVEMBER2021

SLEEVE NOTES

1Followed The
Ocean

2Unclean Mind
3OdeToTheBlue
4Pale Interior
5Disordered

Minds

isordered

Minds”)

Grouper's Shade, though, trades in intimacy
ME ifnotquiteimmediacy, Harris
inastateof

One thing that resonates through
Harris’s music, though, is a strong sense
of time and place, even if that place can
be hard definitively to locate. The songs
on Shade span 13 years, the first from back
in 2008; they also span locales, having
been recorded, variously, in Harris’s
old hometown of Portland; whileona
residency at her brother's home in Mount
Tamalpais, near San Francisco; andin
Astoria, where she also runs an art gallery
(Harris herself is a visual artist) and sails
boats. A patient creator and listener, Harris
waited for the songs that make up Shade
to come together: “For years I rearranged
different drafts,” she recalls. “No deadline
though, other projects coming and going,
all feeding off one another.”

Shade opens with “Followed The Ocean”
—a layer of empty hiss slowly ushers in
an overloaded wave of mulched guitar
as Harris sings out achoral lament, her
voice strident across the sea as she both
summons and resists the force of the noise
that surrounds her. Immediately we get a
senseofher modus operandi: a welcoming
abstraction; song suspended in midair;
something hushed and reverent, yet
expansive and pelagic. Much ofthe rest of

Findin

9

isalso

familiarity. Thelandscape
hereendedupholdingalot
of poetic and conceptual
weightonShade. The album

Look

speaks toi is ashi

butalso,

inaliteral way,
phorically,
water, the ocean; amultitude
of experiences thatledtoit or

have been met withinit.

“radical flux”

calmis one way

to touch ground. For me
accepting change

ital. Water isa

constant reinforcer of both.
1g atits movement
has helped me. Landscape
jmetaphor. Any
goodmagic symbolhas the
capacity to actas alens
which to project questions
andreceive back answers.

accompanying herselfon acoustic
guitar, strummed on “Unclean
Mind", picked methodically on
“Ode To The Blue" – a cat's cradle
ofshining, glinting guitar tones,
much like the insistent, paced
patterns of her visual art, which
also evoke, somehow, the quiet
intensity of artists like Agnes
Martin and Yvonne Audette.

From there, Shade seems to
internalise; Harris's voice on
“Pale Interior” and “The Way
Her Hair Feels” is ruminative,
murmured - on the latter song,
she halts several times, seeming
to correct her playing and
performance, though there's also
something very right about the
way Harris delivers the song. It
comes after theritualistic drone-
mantra of “Disordered Minds", a
mutant hymnal, writhing in the wind, lost
deep in a subway underpass. Elsewhere,
as with “Promise” and “Basement Mix”,
the songs are so hushed, spending time
with them feels like listening in, one’s
attention almost invasive.

Shade, then, is an album of differing
intensities, of gentle revelations. Its
varying recording quality reflects the
length of time it took to assume its final
shape — Shade changes spaces as often
as moods. Musing on this, Harris says
that this variety “ended up reflecting the
wide swathe of time that passed. That
translation of time passing feels like a form
of honesty.” It doesn’t feel low fidelity,
though. Much like the artists that share
asimilar mood and fragility with Harris
—artists like Roy Montgomery, Demarnia
Lloyd, Maxine Funke, Alastair Galbraith,
Kendra Smith - Harris makes the most of
the means available to her and allows her
songs to land the way they need to land.
And with the gorgeous closer “Kelso (Blue
Sky)", you can hear her transform yet
again, away from the grief and solitude
atthealbum's core, a song that, as Harris
says, “brought it back to emotional
weather and landscape ofthe present".

asaself-maderesidency
- 2012, think.l wasinamode
tohideaway
ress...|knew
right away tl songs
Icameup with were going
tobeonanalbumcalled
Shade - couldpicture cover
arteven-butalsoknew that
itwas waitingonsomething.

pectitto sitsolong,

time, being patient,

ight.

JONDALE

SUFJAN STEVENS &
ANGELO DE AUGUSTINE
A Beginner's Mind лзтнматскптү
8/10

Amonth-long movie binge yields
music fullof beauty and wonder
ПТУ The music оп
A Beginner's Mind
was born ofa month-
long sabbaticalin
which Stevens and his
labelmate Angelo De
Augustine spent nights watching films
and mornings sketching out songs
based on their viewings and strategies
borrowed from Zen Buddhism and
the I-Ching. Though Stevens has long
known the value of self-imposed
creative restrictions, rarely before have
they yielded music with quite so much
vividness and imaginative power. And
whether their original inspirations are
as romantic as Wings Of Desire or as
nightmare-inducing as Hellraiser III,
the duo take their movie-fuelled visions
in directions that are continually
surprising. JASONANDERSON

STICK IN THE WHEEL
Tonebeds For Poetry rromuere

9/10

Folk duo dig deep into thepast
andpresent of cockney culture

They’ve received
much acclaim as

_ araw, live folkact,

— but this lockdown

. mixtape sees Nicola
Kearey and Jan
Carter drawing on their experience
in experimental electronica to push
antique folk songs through a space-
age filter. “The Cuckoo” transforms
an old nursery rhyme into a sinister,
slow-burning grime track; “Blind
Beggar” sets Kearey’s heavily auto-
tuned vocals to an ominous drill beat;
“The Devil’s Nag” turns a17th-century
dance tune into an 8-bit computer-
game theme; “Wierds Broke It” [sic]
recasts an Anglo-Saxon poem as a
thrilling piece of dystopian sludge
metal. Between the songs, FX-laden
field recordings complete this
remarkable psychogeographic
voyage through a thousand years
ofLondon culture. JOHNLEWIS

SUUNS
The Witness sovrunoise
7/10

Sleek fifth album from Montreal
avant-rock unit

Suunsare one of
those bands that
sneak upon you.
Active since 2007,
their slow-burn take
on rock music - or
something like it — feels measured
and meticulous, plotted witha
strategic eye. Self-recorded and
self-produced, The Witness finds
the group - nowa trio following the
departure of keyboardist Max Henry

- leaninginto their minimalistic
tendencies. *Witness Protection" and
“Timebender” slink forth on crisp
electronic rhythms, guitars used
sparingly to supply melodic motifs or
sheets of shimmering texture. It all
leaves plenty of space for Ben Shemie’s
effects-tweaked vocals – cryptic,
fractured narratives that still deliver
an emotional kick. LOUISPATTISON

ROGER TAYLOR

Outsider em
6/10

Queendrummer’'ssixthsoloalbum

His songs were
low-points on 1970s
Queen albums but by
the ’80s Roger Taylor
was writing some of
the band’s biggest
hits (“Radio Ga Ga”, “One Vision”,
“Innuendo”, “These Are The Days
Of Our Lives”). His sixth solo album
has some decent uptempo moments,
including the gloriously infantile
Led Zep boogie of “More Kicks”, the
paranoid blues of “Gangsters Are
Running This World” (also revisited
as a bombastic thrash rocker) anda
gumbo-rock version of “The Clapping
Song”. Less compelling are the album’s
world-weary ballads, but one old
downtempo number, “Foreign
Sand”, benefits from a stripped-back
acoustic treatment. JOHNLEWIS

HAYDEN THORPE
MoondustFor My Diamond

DOMINO

9/10

Former Wild Beast returns to
sumptuous mode for second solo LP

Whereas 2019's

Diviner saw Hayden
Thorpe strip his
signature sound
down to the bare
essentials, for his first
solo effort the erstwhile Wild Beasts
frontman adopts a plusher, lusher
aesthetic for this equally beguiling

theex-Beast

follow-up. Thanks to standouts such
as the sleek and sultry “Suspended
Animation”, the beatific “Metafeeling”
and the subtly propulsive “Rational
Heartache”, Moondust For My
Diamond may be Thorpe’s most
fervently sensual set of songs since
Wild Beasts’ Smother. Working closely
with longtime collaborators Leo
Abrahams and Richard Formby as
wellas newallies like Nathan Jenkins
(Bullion), Thorpe achieves a balance of
high-shine electro-pop, gauzy ambient
flow and jazzier acoustic elements

that couldn’t be more attuned to his
formidable skillset. JASONANDERSON

TIRZAH

Colourgrade vomno
7/10

Soulful avant-pop minimalist
muses onmotherhood

J Tirzah Mastin’s loopy,
drowsy, sultry avant-
soul lullabies continue
to explore the fuzzy
dreamspace between
= =4 experimental sound
art randi R&Bo on nthis sporadically
bewitching second album. Partly
inspired byits author’s experiences
ofmotherhood, Colourgrade again
features her extended south London
family of collaborators including Mica
Levi, Coby Sey and Kwes. While these
sonic smudges sometimes feel scrappy,
there are sublime interludes here too,
from the wonky post-trap chatter of
“Beating” to the ramshackle bluesy
waltz “Sleeping”. Mastin appears to
channel former collaborator Tricky on
the woozy shuffle “Hive Mind”, while
the devotional avant-funk minimalism
of “Sink In” suggests Prince jamming
with Arthur Russell. STEPHENDALTON

TROPICAL FUCK STORM
Deep States soveunoise

8/10

Discordance and melody collide on
riotous thirdLP from Australian outfit

On their third album
inasmany years,
this project — formed
by Gareth Liddiard
and Fiona Kitschin
of The Drones — has
already acquired a distinctly unique
tone. Woozy yet spiky guitars that
ricochet between cacophonous fury
and simmering tension underpin
the band’s sound, asit traverses
across as many genres as it eschews.
However, it’s when the band marry
this discordance with melody
that they really shine, as on the
contagious “Legal Ghost”, which
acts as a beautiful counterpoint to
the screeching acid-punk wig-outs
oftracks suchas “The Donkey”.
DANIEL DYLAN WRAY

NEW ALBUMS O

THERONNIEWOODBAND
Mr Luck: A Tribute To

Jimmy Reedemc

8/10

Aboys'night out at the
Royal Albert Hall

Records like this

live set of Jimmy
Reed tunes from

2013 display Ronnie
Woodat his most
disarmingly collegial,
as he and Mick Taylor trade licks on
their twin Goldtop Les Pauls and

he ebulliently mixes it up with pals
Bobby Womack, Paul Weller and Mick
Hucknall. Wood, whose gloriously
tattered voice resonates with lived-in
humanity, slips right into character on
indelible standards like “Baby What
You Want Me To Do”, “Shame Shame
Shame” and “Bright Lights, Big City”,
nailing the great bluesman’s loose-
limbed swagger and existential ache.
BUDSCOPPA

WYNDOW

Wyndow SUMMERCRITICS

8/10

Homegrownpsych-folk gold
LauraJ Martin and ex-
Trembling Bells singer
Lavinia Blackwall
first bonded ata folk
festival four years
ago, their shared

inspirations eventually leading to

an ethereal cover of Robert Wyatt's

“Free Will And Testament”, billed as

Wyndow. Their first album together is

an understated marvel, built around

interlocking piano figures indebted

to the likes of Wyatt and Philip Glass

but made rapturous by misty vocal

harmonies and judicious use of

cello, synths, clarinet and Martin’s

speciality: flute. Marco Rea and Iwan

Morgan help tease out the spectral

atmosphere, at its disquieting best

on the spectacular “Tidal Range".

ROBHUGHES

YES

The Quest wsiogourmusic/sonymusic
7/10

Surprisingly poppy set fromthe
latest iteration of the prog-rockers
Chris Squire’s death
in 2015 makes this
the first Yes album

without any original

members, although

longtime guitarist
Steve Howe and drummer Alan White
make this session just about quorate,
and Jon Davison’s voice is as near as
dammit to Jon Anderson’s. These are
probably the most direct and poppy
songs Yes have ever recorded, including
the folksy “Leave Well Alone”, the
romantic “Future Memories” and the
utopian “A Living Island”. Best ofallare
three bonus tracks: the nostalgic “Sister
Sleeping Soul”; the charming Beatles
tribute “Mystery Tour”; and the jaunty
eco-anthem “Damaged World”, which
sees Howe’s croaky voice sounding
oddly Bowie-esque. JOHNLEWIS

Luck
ann T

NOVEMBER2021 - UNCUT · 35

WILLLEW, JACK JOHNSTONE

JULIAGORTON

"Iwanttoknowwhatitisthatwe'relookingfor/Yousaytomeinavoicethat'sbothsoftand sore"

REISSUES

COMPS BOXSETS LOST RECORDINGS

THE ав 5

I Thought You Wanted То Know (1979-81)

PROPELLERSOUND

Winston Salem's lot: power-pop outliers’ secret
prehistory. By Jim Wirth

N the halcyon days of New York
punk club CBGBs, there was a
pinball machine located in the
furthest corner away from the stage.
In his memoir Spy In The House Of
Loud: New York Songs And Stories,
dB’s co-leader Chris Stamey remembers
being drawn to that part of the room on the
(frequent) occasions when the band on stage wasn’t
quite as thrilling as legend would have you believe.

He wrote: “When askilled player like Dee Dee
Ramone nudged it just the right way, making all
the lights go offat once, I would see that old pinball
machine as a metaphor for what great rock records
should do: trigger some kind ofinstant deep-brain
response, bypassing the critical facilities, beyond
analysis. Just neurons flashing all over the place...
We wanted to shove the machinery. To make the
lights flash offand on.”

In their initial burst of
creativity, The dB’s managed
todo that spectacularly well,
two indie singles and a pair of
UK-released 1981 LPs — Stands
For deciBels and Repercussion
— representing a dizzying
synthesis of Television, fellow
Southerners Big Star and
their British Invasion heroes
The Move. However, beyond
the most fanaticaloutposts
ofthe worldwide record shop
archipelago, the guitar-and-

36-UNCUT- NOVEMBER2021

vocals duo of Stamey and Peter Holsapple,
bassist Gene Holder and drummer Will
Rigby never gained much purchase, their
lasting influence confined to fingerprints
faintly discernible on the next generation
of jangly US underground bands - REM, The
Replacements, et al.
This new collection of low-budget recordings
and rediscovered live material (parts of which were
previously available on 1993’s Ride The Wild Tom-Tom
set) captures The dB’s’ sketchy formative years, with
their first low-budget A-sides — 1978’s “(I Thought) You
Wanted To Know”, recorded with wayward Television
guitarist Richard Lloyd, and the 1980 version of
Holsapple’s breakneck “Black And White” steered by
future REM co-producer Don Dixon - receiving their
first official reissue. It captures a fleeting moment
when The dB’s should have become power-pop
contenders, and highlights
the cubist twists and baroque
underpinning that would
condemn them to become one
of the archetypal cult bands.
While they made their name
in New York, all four dB’s came
from Winston-Salem, South
Carolina, where they had been
playing in bands since the turn
of the 1970s. Still teenagers,
Stamey and Holsapple played
alongside future Let’s Active
kingpin Mitch Easter ona
$1,000-valued home- >

ThedB's:(I-r)
WillRigby, Chris
Stamey, Gene
Holder and
Peter Holsapple

JULIAGORTON

released LP as Rittenhouse Square in 1972.
Animpatient jumble of The Kinks, Yes and
Mountain, it's nota record Holsapple plans
to reissue. “It’s considered a collector's
item by people who have obviously never
heard it," he tells Uncut with a sigh. “Save
yourself several hundred dollars and listen
toiton YouTube.” Informed by Television,
The Flamin’ Groovies and the (very local)
success of Alex Chilton's Big Star, Stamey
andRigby then came together to form
Sneakers, who put out a quirky 1976 EP
onStamey'sown Carnivorous label (later
renamed Car, and perhaps most famous for
releasing Chris Bell’s “I Am The Cosmos" —
the onlysolo record the ill-starred Big Star
man put outin his lifetime).

All those years of gigging on the margins
ensured that, by the time they started to
rematerialise in New York in 1977, The dB's
hada command of musical dynamics that
few of their DIY contemporaries could
match. Their live version of The Beatles’
“Tomorrow Never Knows” on this new
collection is a case in point, the foursome
taking perverse delight in delivering a
perfectly hand-whittled take ofa song that
owed its existence to tape manipulation
and studio trickery.

Such old-school skills helped Stamey
link up with Lloyd, who went uncredited
on the glorious “(I Thought) You Wanted
To Know” – recorded with Stamey, Holder
and Rigby - because he was still under
contract with Elektra. However, The
dB’s were not quite a functioning outfit
until Holsapple arrived – fresh from
an unhappy spell in Memphis. Taking

courage from the taut sound of Elvis
Costello & The Attractions’ This Year’s
Model, the four-piece dB’s came on like

a Ramones-paced ? And The Mysterians
with occasional Van Der Graaf Generator
timesignatures.

IThought You Wanted To Know shows
thatthey cannibalised the odd song from
members' past lives (The Sneakers' *Let's
Live For The Day”, and “Death Garage" —
the B-side ofa solo Holsapple single, “Big
Black Truck”, released on Car in 1978),
but generally started afresh. Adopted by
Alan Betrock, founder of New York Rocker,
they recorded on four-track after hours
in the magazine's offices, but despite
anabundance ofkiller choruses, never
had much faith that the straight record
industry would give them their due.

Stamey's sardonic “My Sire Wristwatch”
— never recorded in a studio but salvaged
froma live tape – mocks a ‘new wave’
promotional item supposedly given away
at a time when Seymour Stein’s label were
trying to scrub the word “punk” from
the musical lexicon, pointedly quoting
their “new wave” slogan: “You better get
behind it before it gets past you.”

However, their disdain for the dumbed-
down music business conformity was
married toa profound faith in what pop
music could do. The dB’s were unashamed
of their pre-revolutionary influences,
performing loving covers of The Chambers
Brothers’ “Time Has Come Today” and
a Byrds-y take on Bob Dylan’s “My Back
Pages” here, but they arguably had
better songs of their own. The rough early

versions of Holsapple’s “Bad Reputation”
and the Sister Lovers-style “Nothing Is
Wrong” are glorious, while Stamey’s
mastery of lopsided writing is underscored
by the fact that he had enough A-material
to abandon “Everytime Anytime" and
“Tell Me Two Times” before The dB’s got

to record a proper album.

With Betrock as nominal producer, The
dB'sstarted recording Stands For deciBels
in 1980, but were unable to find the funds
to finish it off, management company-
turned-UK label Albion ultimately picking
the band up and making a quixotic
attempt to break them in Britain. The label
resorted to spectacular gimmicks to try
and draw attention to Stands For deciBels
(cassette copies came in a ludicrous tin
can) and Repercussion (each copy came
with a cassette sellotaped to the front), but
good reviews never translated into sales.

Stamey quit, leaving Holsapple to lead
the band through two further albums (Like
This and The Sound Of Music) before he
became better known as the unofficial fifth
member of REM on Green and Out Of Time.
The dB’s continue to kind of exist; the
original lineup made Falling Off The Sky in
2012, while “Goin’ To The Club” from this
record comes with a new Stamey vocal,
and he says he would have prodded his
bandmates into re-recording a few more of
the tracks here were it not for the pandemic.

However, if that would have been
interesting, the joy of the eavesdropped
recordings оп I Thought You Wanted To
Know comesin the unvarnished edges.
Listen carefully and you can hear the
shape of the back rooms and half-empty
venues where The dB’s spun gold. Both
Holsapple and Stamey have mixed feelings
about their singing on these recordings,
butif the high harmonies on this version
of “Dynamite” and the glorious “What’s
The Matter With Me?” are not perfect, they
encapsulate The dP's' delight in creating
this spectacular music for the pure joy of
it; all those flippers flapping, bumpers
bumping, everything flashing at once.
Extras:6/10. Sleevenotes from Holsapple
and Stamey and the prospect of more
archive releases to come.

FINDING “NEVERLAND”

THEdB'S

Stands For deciBels
ALBION, 1981

Big Star's Radio City
played at Dead Boys
velocity, The dB's debut
does Southern harmonies with astreet-
smart New York edge. The re-recorded
version of debut single "Black And
White" is ever bit as manic as the original,
with Holsapple ("Big Brown Eyes’, "Bad
Reputation") and Stamey ("Cycles Per
Second", “l'm In Love") goading each
other to greater songwriting heights.
9/10

38- UNCUT · NOVEMBER 2021

The best of the rest of The dB's
THEdB'S

Repercussion

ALBION, 1981

If Positive Touchis the
best Undertones LP (NB:
itis), then thisis The dB's
finest, the tension between the two
writers’ styles reaching its quasi-
psychedelic peak. Holsapple may have
been the more conventional pop writer
CAmplifier" the thrilling "Neverland"),
but his "Nothing Is Wrong" is every bit as
spooky as Stamey's more unsettling
abstract pieces "| Feel Good (Today)"
and"Happenstance". 9/10

THEdB'S

Falling Off The Sky
BAR/NONE, 2012

Holsapple and Stamey
have made three
albums together, most
recently 2020's reworked greatest hits
Our Back Pages, but they don't sound
like The dB's without Rigby and Holder.
The original four remain їп touch, and
reconvened for this bittersweet LP,
Holsapple’s portrait of the artists as old
men, "That Time Is Gone", and Stamey's
"Far Away AndLong Ago’ settinga
suitably elegiac tone. 7/10

та NS пшне em mm ыт
m

SLEEVE NOTES

1(IThought) You
Wanted To Know
(2021 Remix)
2Black And
White (Don Dixon
Version)
3SoulKiss
4BadReputation
(NY Rocker
Sessions)

5If AndWhen
(Westbeth
Sessions)
6TheFight (NY
Rocker Sessions)
7Nothingls
Wrong (NY
Rocker Sessions)
8Dynamite (NY
Rocker Sessions)
9 WeShouldBelIn
Bed(Westbeth
Sessions)
10Ash(Westbeth
Sessions)

11 YouGotlt
Wrong(NY
Rocker Sessions)
12Everytime
Anytime (NY
Rocker Sessions)
13Death Garage
(Live)
14WhatAbout
ThatCat? (NY
Rocker Sessions)
15TellMe Two
Times (NY Rocker
Sessions)

16 What's The
Matter With

Me? (NY Rocker
Sessions)
17She'sGreenl'm
Blue (NY Rocker
Sessions)
18TimeHas
Come Today
(Live)

19 MySire
Wristwatch (Live)
20Let'sLiveFor
Today (NY Rocker
Sessions)
21Tomorrow
Never Knows
(Live)

22My Back Pages
(Live)

23 Goin’ To The
Club(NY Rocker
Sessions w/ New
Vocal)

" Chris Stamey р‹

Youboth grew uploving The
Move:true?

PeterHolsapple: We did. The Move for
us were everything. Shazam, Looking
Onand Message From The Country
influenced and informed what we were
thinking about musically tremendously.
You could barely find those records in
the United States, but we sought them
out and absorbed every minute.

Chris Stamey: They put the time in.

Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne were trying
tofollow that restless spirit of making
the music evolve. That whole thing

of, ‘What’s the next door can we go
through?’ With The dB's, I felt like it was
alittle laboratory and we all wanted to
grow into something alittle more than
we were before.

What drew youall to New York?
Stamey: In 1975, Га seen Television
play and really thought that everything
up there was happening. I got up there
probably the first week of January 1977
and there weren’t actually that many
people there playing like Television. But
a few weeks later I got an opportunity to
play with Alex Chilton, who I knew from
the Big Star records, and all ofasudden
Iwas having а great time.
Holsapple:I'd date my entrée into

New Yorkas two weeks after Television
played their final shows at the Bottom
Line. Chris Stamey and The dB’s

were a hot little three-piece band

but they decided they wanted to get
somebody else in who could play
keyboard and guitar. It just sort of fell
together. Chris was writing alot and
Iwas writing a lot, so we just made it
into this double-headed beast as
songwriters and it worked.

How did yousurvive?
Holsapple:It was cheap to live at that
point. [had an apartment behind

ARCHIVE ©

Workshopping
creativity: The dB's
and (below) their

Peter Holsapple

greatinfluence
Roy Woodin1970

CBGBs. I worked at a record store for
many years. Gene Holder was selling
vintage guitars to rock stars. Chris and
Will Rigby worked at a bar-restaurant in
SoHo called Spring Street Bar. When you
work ata restaurant you can eat; when
you workat a bar you can drink.
Stamey: Nobody had cars, so we were
literally walking around and bumping
into people on the street all the time. It
wasalittle village. Welovedthat band
DNA that Arto Lindsay had. There was
also Glenn Branca; Philip Glass was

at the Mudd Club. I really loved Lydia
Lunch's performances.

ThedB's songsare deceptively
sophisticated.

Stamey: The dB's were about
workshopping creativity,
and we were too focused
on the songwriting to
really focus on making
money. To make it
challenging was
appealing: “For
thatlast verse
we're going to
80 5/4, but
only there."
Weliked
showing off:
"Let's put
inawrinkle
so we don’t
get bored.”

PETERHOLSAPPLE

A lot of it came from Roy Wood. I was at
university for classical music, which at
that time was post-serialism. Stravinsky,
George Crumb, Lukas Foss — these were
the people I was trying to figure out, but
Iwas not very well equipped because
Га only really been in rock bands.
Holsapple: We were trying to be alittle
different from other bands in New York
because we could. We believed that
passing chords were cool; that key
changes were cool. We had a lot of

fun with writing this stuff, and I think
that shows.

Did youever have any hope of
beingcommercially successful?
Stamey: There was a guy at Warner
Brothers UK who heard this version of
“Bad Reputation” and wanted to put

it out, but I said, “No, no, no; we've
recorded a new version of that on
24-track and you should wait for that.”
Then when I played him the version

on 24-track, the version that eventually
came out on the Stands For deciBels
album, he didn’t like it. There was an
alternative universe when Warners
might have put out that version of

“Bad Reputation” and we might have
hada pop hit in the UK.

Holsapple: Dai Davies and Derek Savage
from Albion originally signed us for
publishing, but then it was getting
really obvious that [The dB’s mentor
and producer Alan Betrock] didn’t have
the money it took to put out a record of
dB’s songs, so Albion picked up the
ballandran with it [eventually releasing
the band's first two LPs]. We got to go
outontour with Dave Edmunds - how
cool was that! And getting to play for
audiences in Cardiff! When would we
get to play in Cardiff?

Are youpleased that The dB's
songshave stood the test

of time?

Holsapple: We went from great hope

to commercial failure to seminal
influence. Hearing this record,
especially the live stuff, we were so
much better than I thought we were.
The one thing I wish with The dB’s is
that we’d been better singers, but as
someone said to me and Chris after we'd
finisheda performance, "T've never
heard singing like that." It's that ‘sum
of the parts’ thing. We tried to make
those records so you would go back and
hear stuffin them до years later, and I
think we succeeded. None of that next
generation of New York bands - The
Bongos, The Bush Tetras, The Raybeats,
The Fleshtones - really had that big

hit. Of that entire generation of bands
in the US, only The GoGos and The
Bangles and REM did. Ramones

didn’t, Television certainly didn’t.

And we fallinto the same category.
Stamey: I never really trust that

the best stuffis that which gets the
most attention. INTERVIEW: JIM WIRTH

NOVEMBER 2021 - UNCUT : 39

ALLEN AYCOCK, MICHAEL PUTLAND/GETTY IMAGES

KENREGAN

=
— x

Sr rin time In New
ork: The Bootle

Series, Volume 16,
1980-1985 Баа

SPRINGTIME
M ПЕШ ІШІН.

|

1980-1985

EHOLD Bob Dylan's'80s,
that blighted hour. No-one
could really argue if you
described it as largely a
time of muddle and waste,
lit up here and there by
occasional flashes of the
inspiration Dylan seemed previously to
have had on speed dial but which was
now mostly dodging his calls. The records
he made then are testament to that — the
versions of them he released, anyway. There
were six studio albums across those years,
and Springtime In New York- in its fullest
iteration, a5CD set with 57 tracks — focuses
on the first three, Shot Of Love, Infidels and
Empire Burlesque. All of them were shadows
of the albums they could have been - the
outtakes are a testament to that. All those
orphaned tracks, recorded and discarded,
sprung eventually from extended archival
jail time by the liberating hand of the
Bootleg Series.

Springtime In New York picks up Dylan’s
story in April 1981, 11 months after
the 79-date Gospel Tour redemptively
documented on Trouble No More: The
Bootleg Series, Volume 13, Dylan wrapping
an unprecedented eight months’ work on
Shot Of Love, his third consecutive album
of evangelical sermonising. It’s released
in August 1981 to a dismal reception and
worse sales. Dylan would probably have
got better reviews if he'd packed the album
with the cover versions recorded during
album rehearsals, featured here on CDs
1and2. There's a version, for instance,
of The Temptations’ “I Wish It Would
Rain”, sensationally sung, that Dylan
virtually throws himself into; a dark,
churning “Mystery Train”, with gospel
wailing, writhing guitars and Ringo Starr

40-UNCUT - NOVEMBER 2021

Dylan in1981:
facingadismal

reception

on drums; a simmering version ofthe
Peggy Lee standard "Fever"; a duet with
Clydie King on “Let It Be Me" that turns
The Everly Brothers’ heartbreaker into a
lover’s prayer, a full-on rendition of Neil
Diamond's “Sweet Caroline”. Among the
discarded Dylan originals included here,
the raucous “Price Of Love” is driven bya
Bo Diddley beat, garage band organ, sax
and rockabilly guitar, “Fur Slippers” is
arough, sardonic blues and “Borrowed
Time” is something you wish Bob Johnston
had got his hands on.

Even the album’s harshest critics
recognised “Every Grain Of Sand” asa
remarkable thing, one of the great songs
of the Born Again era. Shot Of Love was
otherwise shot down in flames. How
different it might have been if Dylan hadn’t
jettisoned three key tracks. The raging
“Groom’s Still Waiting At The Altar” was
dropped from the original vinyl release
but reinstated for the CD edition. The
apocalyptic panoramas of the mighty
“Angelina” weren’t revealed, however,
until 1991 when a sepulchral piano and
organ-led version appeared on The Bootleg

Series: Volumes 1-3. The version here is the
very first take, with a full band, but feels
already like something shaping up to be
astonishing. “Caribbean Wind" remains
the album's greatest lost track. An epic song
about romantic turmoil and Armageddon
written in the time-shifting narrative style
of “Tangled Up In Blue”, it appeared ina
lumpy version on Biograph. There was a
lovely, slowed-down rehearsal version on
Trouble No More, plus alive version from
November 1980 at San Francisco's Warfield
Theatre that Clinton Heylin described as
Dylan's "greatest in-concert performance".
Thebest take, however, was the swaggering
Studio 55 version of bootleg legend,
produced by Jimmy Iovine with David
Mansfield on mandolin, disappointingly
missing from this set. Pretty galling when
there is yet space for an alternative version
of the lamentable “Lenny Bruce”, complete
with choir.

CDs 3 and 4 offer Infidels tracks blessedly
stripped of producer Mark Knopfler’s
digital trickery and overdubs. There’s a
fabulous early run at “Jokerman”, anda
heart-breaking “Don’t Fall Apart On Me

“I Remember
You” becomesa

5 е sh e I е
ravishing (hing
from the first day of recording i
gathers an ominous momentum. ў

It’s fascinating also to witness 4
surreal shaggy dog story “Too m
Late” into the vengeful “Foot Of Bs
Pride”, aslower version here than
Series collection. No amount of knob-
twiddling revisionism, however, can

rescue the protest boogie of

And Ethel" or divest

the bulk of Infidels’

songs, sanctimonious

Tonight”. A full band version of “Blind Willie McTell”
theovernight transformation of

thecareening takeon the first Bootleg

the unreleased “Julius

rockers mostly, of the

Steve Berkowitz on omissions, roads not
aken and the unfathomable essence of Bob

Why isn't the Studio 55 version of "Caribbean
Wind” onthenew Bootleg Series collection?
Ican‘t answer that. l'mnot being coy with you. Sometimes
[Dylanmanager and Bootleg Series overseer] Jeff Rosen
andl will discuss individual tracks, butit's his decision what
goesonthediscs. We'renolonger doing the complete
compilations of every session, every stop andstart. It's
interesting for some, butnotinteresting аќ сії for most
people to hear every single outtake.

Itjustseemslike suchahuge omission.
Well, we'veselected songs and put on
thisboxsongsthatraised their hands
to go together. Most of the time we
listen to everything, andnine outten
timesif there's ten versions of asong,
we'llagree on which one raisesits
hand. It's less our decision and more
theperformance that decides.

Steve
Berkowitz

SLEEVE NOTES
DISC1 DISC2 4Don'tFall Apart TooClose To The 4Tight Connection
1 Señor (Tales Of 1 Angelina Ш OnMe Tonight Ground * ToMy Heart
Yankee Power) @ 2 PriceofLove B [vers2]* 6 Julius AndEthel * (Has Anybody
2 ToRamona 6 31Wishlt Would 5.Neighborhood 7Green, Green SeenMyLove) A
3 JesusMet The Rain Ш Bully * Grass Of Home Ж 5Seeing TheReal
Woman At 4 LetitBeMe - 6Someone'sGotA 8Union Sundown * YouAtLast A
The Well @ International 7" Hold of My Heart * 9LordProtect 6Emotionally
4 Mary Of The Single B-side ж 7ThisWasMyLove* МуСһісж Yours А.
Wild Moor € 5Cold,ColdHeart ш — 8TooLate 10landl-altversion 7 CleanCutKid
5 NeedAWoman 6 . 6Don'Ever Take [acoustic version] Ж 11DeathisNot The 8Straight A'sIn
6 ACoupleMore Yourself Away Ш 9 TooLate End[fullversion]*k LoveA
Years @ 7Fur Slippers Ш [band version] Ж [d 9 When The Night
7 Mystery Train Ш 8BorrowedTime Ш 10FootofPride Ж DISC5 ComesFalling
8 ThisNight Won't 9IsItWorthit? M Imm men] 1Enough|s Enough From The Sky
LastForever Ө 10Lenny Bruce M DISC4 -liveatSlaneCastle, [slow version] A
9 WeJustDisagree € 11 Үеѕ5іг, No Sir ш 1CleanCutKid * Ireland 10WhenTheNight
10Let'sKeeplt Fu—ÀÀà 2Sweetheart 2License То Кїї Comes Falling From
BetweenUs 6 DISC3 Like You ** -liveLate Night With — TheSky[fastversion]
11SweetCaroline& ^ 1Jokerman** 3Baby What You DavidLetterman, A
12Fever @ 2Blind WillieMcTell* | WantMeToDo March 22,1984 11New Danville
13Abraham,Martin — 3Don'tFallàpartOn 4TellMe* 31'llRemember GirlA
And John 6 MeTonight[versi]* ^ 5AngelFlying YouA 120агкЕуеѕ А

Rehearsal | Shot Of Love outtake | Infidels outtake | Empire Burlesque alternate take

millennial piety still attached to Dylan's songwriting.
This is happily not the case on CDs, largely dedicated
to 1985's Empire Burlesque. With the deft elimination
of Arthur Baker's era-specific production effects, “I
Remember You" becomes a ravishing thing, the gospel
lilt of “Emotionally Yours" a gorgeous highlight. “Dark
Eyes”, as ever, enthrals. Two early versions of the
foreboding “When The Night Comes Falling From The
Sky” catch it onits way to the firestorm take on Bootleg
Series Volumes 1-3. The jewel here, of course, is “New
Danville Girl”, which, extensively
rewritten, would become the even
more extraordinary “Brownsville
Girl". Many people prefer the
down-home warmth ofthe original
tothe hyperreal big production of
the blockbuster remake on Knocked
Out Loaded; but in both versions
this epic song about love, memory
and myth is one of the greatest
illuminations on Dylan’s
often long dark road to

A е fully rediscovering
himselfintime for
the great last act

of his career.

=

it? No! Zappa? What
awildidea. Bowie? God, | wishthat had happened. Elvis
Costello, Nick Lowe and The Attractions? God, that could
have beena beautiful thing.

ro Agere ин чир Dylan dropped "Blind
McTell” from the final tracklisting of
Infidels? I've been working onBob Dylan's music for 30
yearsandl'vealways wanted to ask. But! don't think it's
any good asking Bob Dylan why about anything.

Woulditbe pointless toask
what'snextin the Bootleg Series?
Yes, it would be. But, of course, there
willbe more. The Bootleg Seriesis the
gift that keeps ongiving. Bob always
surprisesus. There alwaysseemstobe
more.He keeps going, andso do we.
INTERVIEW: ALLAN JONES

P43 GENESIS

P44 PRIMALSCREAM
P44 CAITLINROSE
P46 SEXPISTOLS
P46 SMALLFACES
P48 JOSEPHSPENCE
P49 NEIL YOUNG

BLACK SABBATH
TechnicalEcstasy: Super
Deluxe Edition smc

6/10

Expanded edition of the Sabs’
coke-addled identity-crisis
albumfromthe mid- 70s

BlackSabbath's
3 seventh studio
album came just
asthequartet were
| taking their cues
пон vw» from whatever was
voguish in 1976, from prog to punk,
from funk to cock rock, each track
slathered in Gerald Woodroffe's
keyboards while the band play
dress-up. The galloping *Back
Street Kids" suddenly goes into
prog territory around the 1:40 mark;
“Rock N Roll Doctor" is a leering
piece of cowbell-heavy funk-rock; the
acoustic-guitar-led “She’s Gone" isa
precursor to Ozzy's solo career; then
there’s a certain prudish astringency
to the way in which “Dirty Women”
addresses prostitution. “It’s Alright”
isarather good McCartney-esque
ballad, written and sung by
Bill Ward, although it’s not really
“proper Sabbath”, is it?
Extras: 7/10. A disc of live recordings
(where some new tracks sound great
alongside old faves like “Snowblind”
and “War Pigs); a disc of new mixes
by Steven Wilson (including two
different versions of “She’s Gone”)
and some alternative mixes and
outtakes (including a fine, bluesy,
harmonica-driven version “All
Moving Parts (Stand Still)", ahymn
toa transvestite US president.
JOHNLEWIS

BLACK sansat

SAMEMERSON, TRIPFONTAINE

ТһеЅаБѕіп'76:
deluxe and
delightful

JUERGEND.ENSTHALER

FAUST

1971-1974

BUREAUB

9/10

Bloody- minded thrills
bottled. By Louis Pattison

“THEREis no band
more mythical
than Faust," wrote
Julian Copein
Krautrocksampler,
his grand survey of
German kosmische
music. If Faust are mythic, maybe it's
becausethe group - formed in 1970 in
thecounterculture ferment of Hamburg,
West Germany - remain resistant to
category. Their immediate peers in’70s
German progressive music often felt like
the embodiment of certain concepts.
Kraftwerk were about the bold march

of technology; Can, improvisation

as liberation; Tangerine Dream, the
sweeping expanse of space. Perhaps what
makes Faust mythical is that they are so
difficult to pin down.

In part this was a question of personnel.
Faust had its leaders - drummer Werner
"Zappi" Diermaier, bassist Jean-Hervé
Péron and the underground journalist
turned impresario-cum-producer Uwe
Nettelbeck – but the group operated as an
anarchic collective in which individual
contributions were subsumed within
aunified whole. In part it was their
sound, which encompassed bucolic folk,
avant-garde sound collage, synthesiser
experimentation and fuzz-wreathed
freakouts, that beat a path to the distant
horizon. All this, and Faust werefunny

42- UNCUT- NOVEMBER2021

x
Asonic
revolution:
Faustin 1971
'

me

SLEEVENOTES S

LP1/CD1

LP3/CD3

The Faust Tapes
LP4/CD4

FaustlV

LP5/CD5

Punkt

LP6/CD6
Momentaufnahmel
LP7/CD7
Momentaufnahmell
Single1

1 Lieber Herr
Deutschland

2 Baby

Single2

1SoFar (Single
Version)

2 It's ABitOf APain
[a
Producedby:
Faust, Uwe
Nettelbeck
Recorded

at: Wümme
studios, Bremen;
The Manor,
Oxfordshire;
Musicland
Studios, Munich
Personnel: Werner
“Zappi” Diermaier
(drums,
keyboards,
vocals), Hans
Joachim|rmler
(keyboard,
synth), Arnulf
Meifert (drums),
Jean-Hervé
Péron(vocals,
bass), Rudolf
Sosna (vocals,
guitar, keys),
Gunther Wüsthoff
(synthesiser, sax)

— humorous in that distinctly
German way that translates
awkwardly into English.
If Faust remain alittle obscure
next to their peers, maybe it's
because some halfacentury
on, their music is yet to be fully
understood. Their records have
never been out of print, but there
has been no proper retrospective
—at least until now. The 1071-1074
box collects their four studio
albums, Faust, Faust So Far,
The Faust Tapes and Faust IV. It
also assembles a “lost” album,
Punkt!, plus two discs entitled
Momentaufnahme I and II (in
English, *snapshot") collecting
music recorded at their studio, a
converted schoolhouse in rural
Wiimme. Completing the package
is a pair of singles, including the
pre-Faust demo recording “Lieber
Herr Deutschland”. A mix of hard
rock, protest sounds and political
sloganeering very in tune with
the post-1968 counterculture, it
somehow scored the young Faust
a major record contract with Polydor, a
rather conservative label looking for an
emissary of the new German sound.

Come their debut album, Faust had
insurrection on their mind; but 1971’s Faust
isa sonic revolution, nota political one —
adeliberate rupture with rock history. It
begins with brief samples of The Rolling
Stones’ “Satisfaction” and The Beatles’ “All
You Need Is Love”, mischievously tossed
in, and from thereon in, anarchy reigns.
There are squalling horns, field recordings,
seasick jazz rhythms, bierkeller
singalongs; its surreality, and its bloody-
mindedness, is thrilling. 1972’s Faust So
Faris equally strange, but rather more
structured and accessible, throwing in pop
moments — see “It’s A Rainy Day (Sunshine
Girl)”, a mix of ’60s beat group charm and
primitive Velvet Underground thud - and
aplayful virtuosity best spied on spry jazz-
rocker “I’ve Got My Car And My TV”.

Cast off by Polydor, Faust signed with
Virgin Records on the condition their new
double album would retail for 49p, the
price ofa seven-inch single. Assembled
from hundreds of hours of recordings
captured at Wümme, The Faust Tapes was
asprawling sound collage — 26 tracks —
that seemed designed to bewilder casual
listeners and delight the seasoned. The
two Momentaufnahme discs feel like a
logicalextension of The Faust Tapes,
highlights including woozy drum jam
“Vorsatz” and the self-explanatory “Weird
Sounds Sound Bizarre”.

Perhaps it’s easiest to comprehend
Faust’s legacy through а listen to Faust IV.
The group’s most accessible album, here
you can hear seeds laid for everyone from
The Beta Band (the sprawling, bucolic
“Jennifer”) to Thee Oh Sees (chunky
psych jammer “Giggy Smile”). The
surging 11-minute opener “Krautrock” is
somehow monumental enough to deserve
its definitive title, even if Faust doubtless
named it in arch response to the music
press’s faintly insulting genre name.

The most exciting addition on 1971-1974
is Punkt! Recorded in Giorgio Moroder’s
Musicland studio in 1974 but never
released, it finds Faust paring back their
jazzy eccentricities, instead pointing
forward to the music the reformed group
would make from the ’90s onwards.
“Morning” sets the tone, an industrial-
strength rock freakout powered by
Zappi’s pneumatic drumming, while
“Knochentanz” adds a faintly Arabic
flavour through droning horns and
dervish percussion. But there are pretty
moments too - the piano-led “Schön
Rund”; and especially “Fernlicht”, a
synth instrumental with a dreamy, elegiac
feel. The session for Punkt! ended in high
farce, astudio smash-and-grab that
saw the masters spirited out in the back
ofavan and Hans-Joachim Irmler and
Rudolf Sosna tossed in prison. Ina way, it
was asurprise Faust got away with it for
so long: four years of sonic invention that,
even now, sounds like a radical act.

Fauston field
recordings, political
messages and doing a
runner from poshhotels

What'sthe

behind NM
Deutschland"?
Jean-HervéPéron:lt was
composedinthepre-Faust
times by Sosna, Wüsthoff
and myself - atriolater
named Nukleus, for press
clarity reasons. The piece
was thenrearrangedand
extendedtopresentasa
demo to Polydor whenFaust
formedsoon after.

Gunther Wiisthoff: The
recording was of aprotest
against the Vietnam War on
MonckebergstraBein1971,

takenonmy Uher Report
taperecorder.

Péron: Thelyrics go something
like “Dear Mister Germany,
keep ondoing what you

are doing/Keep onbuilding
fences/Keep ondreaming
your dreams... Probably the
only song wemade witha
direct politicalmessage.

Punkt!wasrecorded
at GiorgioMoroder's
Musicland Studiosin
1974.What do yourecall
aboutmakingit?
Hans-Joachimlrmler: It
happenedin 1974, during
therecordings withDonna
Summer. The agreement
thatlhad with Mr Moroder
was wecouldusethe studio

after she finishedrecording.
Werecordedeverything we
could capture, including field
recordingsin the building, and
Imixedthe materialat the end
of the day's work.

Péron: Welivedupstairs
fromthe studiointhe very
posh Arabella Hotel, where
weranup quite abill that
Virginrefusedtopay.The
police were called, andour
roadieRuud drove through
the gate with my truck and
rescuedour gearandthe
tapes -phew! After Irmler and
Sosna'smothershadbailed
usoutofjail,each of us went
hisownpath - family, day job,
whatever. Andthat wasthe
endofFaust.
INTERVIEW:LOUISPATTISON

ARCHIVE O

NICK CAVE&
THEBAD SEEDS
B-Sides & Rarities Part & ll

MUTE

9/10

More songs about death and
galloping horses

The deluxe seven-LP
version of this career-

spanning rarities set
adds a double-LP set
of newer material
(compiled by Cave and
Warren Ellis) to the 2005 compilation
curated by ex-Bad Seed Mick Harvey.
The treasures of the Harvey set are
relatively familiar. Part II is a vital
addition to the autumnal period in
Cave's songwriting, beginning with
ahesitant attempt at “Skeleton Tree"
from 2006 (“Jesus was aliar anda
thief”, Cave suggests). The final side
in both versions offers a full album
ofunreleased material, all ofit vital.
In Cave’s more recent writing, Ellis’s
experimental flourishes flicker and
fizz behind the singer’s painful
ruminations. There are slivers of
comedy, a king-sized cock here, a
Kafka-esque fly there, but these are
dominated by Cave’s preoccupations
-death and endurance and loss

and just staying afloat on a wave of
memory. The highlightis “Life Per Se”,
a heavily freighted prayer of pain in
which hope endures, just about.
Extras: 7/10. The 7LP set comes with
alarge-format booklet. ALASTAIRMcKAY

THECHARLATANS

AHeadful Of Ideas repusucormusic
8/10

Baggysurvivors celebrate 30th
— withbest-of/rarities
zi Initially pinned
1 as Madchester
t coat-tail riders, The
r x т | Charlatans used
y zg LJ Britpop to reinvent
themselves, refining
asound that mixed frontman Tim
Burgess’s amiably dizzy lyricism with
aHammond-powered sound informed
by’6os soul and R&B. Now 13 albums
strong, A Headful Of Ideas views
the group's legacy from a number of
perspectives. The hits – Can't Get
Out Of Bed”, “North Country Boy" –

t Di

EBTG:more
shadeneeded?

ШЕШЕ REVELATIONS ЕЕЕ

TheCharlatans:
flower-child
whimsy and
beefy grooves

THE CHARLATANS

TimBurgess onremixes, live tracks andlockdown comforts

ometimesit'sa
beautiful thing for us all
to get together andlook

back alittle,” says Tim Burgess.
He's talking about compiling
AHead Full Of Ideas, a boxset
ofhits, demos, live tracks
andremixes to mark The
Charlatans' 30th anniversary.
It wasn'talways easy, he says.
“Ihave never been too much
ofafanoflistening to our live
recordings -| can get caught
upinthe moment and wish
that Ihad done something
differently. Martin [Blunt, bass]
brought alot of the live stuff
together andlfoundit
strangely comforting during
the months without shows."
Burgess points to "Indian Rope",

have aged nicely, while a disc oflive
performances offers clues to their
longevity. In particular, a '99 take

on “Sproston Green" from Reading
Festival captures their balance of
flower-child whimsy and beefy
psychedelic grooving. A limited five-
vinyl boxset adds a disc of demos and
asurprisingly good disc of remixes,
The Chemical Brothers rewiring *Nine
Acre Court" as rowdy breakbeat acid
and Sleaford Mods teasing out an
endearing greasiness from the cogs
of “Plastic Machinery”.

Extras: 7/10. Limited boxset includes
signed tour poster and booklet with
unseen photos.

LOUIS PATTISON

EVERYTHINGBUT THEGIRL
Eden

8/10

Vinyl release of EBTG'sbossa-heauy
%2 album

On YouTube you'll
find a 1984 edition

AC © ofa BBC popreview

show called 8 Days
Legi 2% ` A Week, in which
AP anunlikely panel

captured at Reading Festivalin
1992, as apersonalhighlight.
"Alegendary lineup, and | feel
we embraced the opportunity.
Plus| got to see Nirvana and
the Beastie Boys.”

Another highlight of the box is
the disc of remixes, including
Chemical Brothers, Norman
Cook and anew remix by
Sleaford Mods. "We keepit
simple - friends in the music
business that we admire,” says
Burgess of their approach to
soliciting remixes. "We always
felt the source materialis
pretty good, sonot sure we've
ever been turned down. Please
insert а winky eye emojihere
so people don't think| ama
cocky idiot." LOUISPATTISON

of Morrissey, Tony Blackburn and
George Michael review this album.
Alllike it for different reasons:
Blackburn regards the bossa-tinged
lead single, “Each And Every One",
asasoul classic; Morrissey hates
the single but loves the moody,
introspective tracks, particularly
the album’s one jangly indie-rocker,
“Another Bridge”; Michael adores
Tracey Thorn’s “melancholic,
vulnerable” voice but thinks the
album needs more shade.

In retrospect, it'sa much more
varied LP than any ofthem
suggest: the guitar-picking on
“Тһе Dustbowl” points towards
Everything But The Girl's later
country-tinged work; the gloriously
spooky, slow-burning “Frost

& Fire” sounds like samba put
through a krautrock filter; while
Ben Watt’s sad, child-like voice
takes centre stage on the cleverly
written jazz ballads “Tender Blue”
and “Soft Touch”. And the guest
musicians — including tenorist Pete
King, guitarist Simon Booth and
drummer Charles Hayward – are
exceptional throughout.

Extras: None.

JOHNLEWIS

GENESIS

The Last Domino? cznesis.inx
7/10

2CD, 27-track best-of boxset
oddly omits "Supper's Ready”

;. Anyplanforan
je(es [5 easily digestible,
Қ, as career-spanning
+

ЖАЗА? Genesis best-of is

ын swiftly going torun
into the23-minute
elephantin the sequencing room.
You can’t adequately celebrate Peter
Gabriel’s era without “Supper’s
Ready”; you can’t avoid а boxset

with it. Its omission throws this 2CD,
27-track compilation somewhat out
of whack. The obvious '80s hits —
plus way too much We Can't Dance —
are balanced with some questionable
early picks (Firth Of Fifth" but no
*Watcher Of The Skies"?), while
PhilCollins' initial period upfrontis
largely ignored when an “Entangled”,
“Ripples...” or “Your Own Special
Way” would have helped bridge the
stylistic chasm of'75-'81. As a preview
of the forthcoming tour, though, The
Last Domino? promises a barnstormer:
lesser-heard wonders (“Duchess”,
“Carpet Crawlers”, Wind And
Wuthering’s stunning “Afterglow”)
and moments of menace (“Мата”,
*Home By The Sea") add substance
toasetreplete with synth-rock
smashers. Just add flower.

Extras: None. MARKBEAUMONT

GRIZZLY BEAR
Yellow House
(reissue, 2006) warp

9/10

The last domina?

Brooklyn quartet dramatically
rewire folkrock

By 2006's Yellow
House, Grizzly Bear
had left Edward
Droste's early
ambitions behind,
with Christopher
Bear's instrumental skills expanding
recordings for 2004's Horn Of Plenty
andasince assembled live band
developing new songs. Their Beach
Boysharmonies foreshadowed Fleet
Foxes’, elevating *Knife"'s swells
and “Little Brother”’s banjo bucolic,
but their second album’s intimate,
ramshackle warmth also allowed
“Lullabye” to belie similar echoes of
Simon & Garfunkel, its subsequent
ascending melody intertwined with
clanging guitars and colossal drums.
Intricately arranged opener “Easier”
further emphasised their reach,
its ancient piano and woodwind
lending it an eerily timeless quality
before their rustic ways meandered
towards a psych-folk heaven that’s
part Americana, part Spirit Of Eden.
With “On A Neck...”’s rich acoustics
rivalling Crosby’s IfI Could Only
Remember My Name before its
climax explodes like fireworks, and
“Marla” at times like a despondent
Wall-era Pink Floyd, this was a true
bear hug.
Extras: None.
WYNDHAM WALLACE

NOVEMBER 2021 - UNCUT · 43

TOMSHEEHAN, PETERNOBLE/REDFERNS

NickLowe:
thecountry
craftyears

The Studio Albums -
1996-2007 unwersat

| І ET
IN "LE

eee Few major bands
have fallen so totally
out of fashion as Dire
Straits, which has
meant that Knopfler’s
rather excellent solo
output has perhaps received less
acclaim than it deserves. On 1996’s
Golden Heart he was still basically in
“Money For Nothing" mode, but 2000's
Sailing To Philadelphia was more
expansive, with guest appearances by
James Taylor and Van Morrison. Then
on The Ragpicker's Dream (2002) and
Shangri-La (2004) he stepped away
from stadium rock tropes to embrace
country music and reposition himself
as across between JJ Cale and Chet
Atkins. The folky Kill To Get Crimson
(2007), which came on the back ofa
superb collaborative set with Emmylou
Harris (sadly not included here),
is perhaps the best ofall. It seems
inappropriate to call someone who
sold 100 million records underrated,
buti inanodd wayit’s not untrue.
s: 6/10. Bonus disc containing
ninenon-album B-sides and outtakes.
NIGEL WILLIAMSON

NICK LOWE
The Convincer (reissue, 2001)
YEPROC

о /4

Having Johnny Cash
asafather-in-law left
its mark, as Lowe's
speed-laced Stiff
years gave way to
stately country craft.
“You look like butter wouldn't melt
inyour mouth”, he bitterly begins on
“Homewrecker”, picking through
the consonants like landmines. “But
Iknowit will”. “Lately I’ve Let Things
Slide” piles on the poetry of personal
ruin, as the singer awakes witha cut
face, and responds with honky-tonk
haiku: “Smoking I once quit/Now I've
got one lit/I fell back into it”. Geraint
Watkins adds simmering Wurlitzer to
slide-guitar twangs. “Indian Queens”,
with its stark folk verses and Glen
Campbell choruses - even before

44: UNCUT - NOVEMBER 2021

mention of “the rigs of Galveston” —
shows the wider world of 60s country-
Bop classicism being mined.

s:6/10. Vinyl version of CD EP

included with some purchases in 2001.

Warmly inviting strums through the
Cash-like *Different Kind of Blue",
Shirelles and Chi-Lites covers match
themain event.

NICKHASTED

PRIRAA

Demodelica |

че Among thevarious

| releases to mark the
71 30th anniversary
of Screamadelica
} (including a picture
disc and singles
boxset) this collection ofdemosis by
far the most historically significant —
and surprising. While the visionary
work of Andrew Weatherall, The Orb
and Jimmy Miller gave Screamadelica
focus and shape, these early versions
show how far along the road to creative
enlightenment Primal Scream
already were. The Eden Studios demo
of “Screamadelica”, for instance,
is essentially the same swaggering
Balearic monster, “Higher Than The
Sun” still unfurls with majestic grace,
“Shine Like Stars” is already the perfect
blissed-out kiss-off. What Weatherall
and co brought, though, isasprinkling
of magic dust. Even in their most basic
forms (the demo of “Movin’ On Up”, for
example), they show how the germ of
anidea -apianoriff, a lyric - can be
transformedin the right hands.

tras: None. MICHAELBONNER

-DI »

DET

Ma, A seen To Take
Out The Trash

RHINO

Caitlin Rose:

country debut

Nb one for the hardcore.
Л While Sorry Ma...,

¢) The Replacements?
1981 debut, fizzed
B with a raffish,
pinkish charm and unveiled the
"Mats formidable instinct for melody,
it offered few hints of the thoughtful
songwriter Paul Westerberg would
become, or the depths his band would
develop. It blasted through its 18 tracks
in just over 36 minutes. This reissue
includes a remaster of the album, two
discs of demos, alternate versions and
outtakes, and a complete live show
recorded in January 1981 at The7th
Street Entry in The Replacements’
native Minneapolis. While it’s hard to
justify spending much time listening
to rough versions of what was a pretty
rough finished product, the live show
is tremendous: the always invigorating
sound of both a young band and its
audiencerealising that something
speciali is afoot.
s:6/10. Hardcover book,
sleevenotes by Bob Mehr, new
interview with the band, essay by
former manager Peter Jesperson,
photos. ANDREWMUELLER

Tattoo You (reissue, 1981)

POLYDOR

Thealbum that

arguably ushered

in the era ofthe

Stones as full-on

stadium rockers

with the ubiquitous
“Start Me Up”, Tattoo Youis largely
comprised of works-in-progress left
over from previous albums, mainly
1980's Emotional Rescue, but also right
back to Goats Head Soup sessions.
Nonetheless, it hangs together
confidently, thanks in the main to
taut performances of the bluesy

“Slave”, the falsetto soul of “Worried
About You” and laconic strummer
“Waiting On A Friend”, the latter
graced by Sonny Rollins’ smooth

sax counter melody.

extras:8/10. Deluxe formats includes
the 1982 live album Still Life, plus

Lost & Found, a disc of nine cuts left
over from the studio sessions. Mick
Jagger has rarely sounded as soulful
as on the testifying cover of Dobie
Gray’s “Drift Away”, and there’s sleazy
grit to Jimmy Reed’s punchy “Shame,
Shame, Shame”, while the rugged
country gospel of “Fast Talkin’”

and sneering, menacing rockabilly

of “Fiji Jim" stand out among

the previously unheard Jagger-
Richards originals.

TERRY STAUNTON

OwnSideNow -
(reissue, 2010)
ATO

asi

When it emerged from
Nashville in 2010, Own
Side Now had the air of
instant classic about
it- whichis to say that
it sounded like it might
have been wrought bya contemporary
of Emmylou Harris or Linda Ronstadt
circa the early 1970s, and yet not quite
like anything we'd previously heard.
Rose demonstrated a gift for the wry
alt.country ballad as plaintiveas her
voice, able to do melancholy (the title
track), funny (“New York”) or — asis
often thecase with the greatest country
—abitofboth at once (“Learning To
Ride", “Spare Me"). Itremains an
outrage that there has only been one
further album since – 2013's equally
marvellous The Stand-In – but few
artists make even one this good.

s:8/10. Two (terrific) bonus
tracks, “Whatchoo” and “Only Lies”.
ANDREWMUELLER

The Joni Mitchell Archives Volume 2:
The Reprise Albums (1968-1971) „е

8/10

WHAT atime it was,
50 years ago and more,
when Joni strode

to power, part ofa
musical royalty whose
clarions shouted
dominion over a broad
Earth. Fans waited, breath bated, for the
latest album/bulletin from lives lived
inluxurious wonder. Hearth ballads for
McLuhan's global campfire. Picaresques
andintrigues from the fabled Canyon came
alive in the music she made between 1968
and’71, as the poet collapsed sideways into
the popstar. Songs are barely concealed
public missives (pigeon-posted tweets?)
between friends and lovers, minstrels-in-
arms and the hopelessly love-smitten.

This moment of possibility for the pop
song - when it held the world’s attention
onascale unimaginable today - is when
Joni Mitchell’s music, with its passions and
its probings, came alive. The fifth disc of
this boxset – five CDs or 10 LPs totalling
six hours of home tapes, studio outtakes
and live recordings - finds her at London's
Paris Theatre in December 1970 in duo with
James Taylor, performing “A Case Of You”,
inspired by her previous affair with
Leonard Cohen, and “California”,
abouta fling with another man
on Ibiza. As she and Taylor
dovetail and harmonise,
we know the couple
are romantically
involved,
although
we're also
aware that, three

ARCHIVE O

months hence, the relationship is toast.
This second volume flows from the
compilation, released earlier this year, of
thefreshly stirred early run of Joni albums,
Song To A Seagull (1968), Clouds (1969),
Ladies Of The Canyon (1970) and Blue (1971).
Where those remasters largely enhanced
theoriginals' meltwater clarity, Volume
2cherrypicks from Mitchell's extensive
archive of informal recordings, demos and
experiments from the same time frame. It
plays like a sketchpad and commonplace
book, but hangs together much better than
the grab-bag of doodles it could have been.
Emerging from the post-Baez/Dylan
North American folk scene, Mitchell was
astoryteller and poet, a woman ofletters
whose voice was amplified by the sudden
rise to power ofthe pop star. Re-hearing
these songs in the concert tapes and
demos here, oneis again struck by the
impression ofa female voice both strong
and vulnerable, painting fleeting glimpses
ofa modern world - LA boulevards,
hipster cafes, transatlantic flights - in the
musical idiom of the medieval troubadour.
Atthe same timea track like “Get
Together”, from a Carnegie Hall concert
in February 1969, reminds you whata
shit-hot guitarist she was.
The big scoop here is the full
live set from Le Hibou
Coffee House
in Ottawa,
Ontario,
on March
19, 1968. It
documents а
highly eventful

SLEEVE NOTES

Apartme
2tracks

period: Mitchell had already beenin
residency there for a week, and justa
couple of days earlier had hooked up with
Graham Nash for the first time, as The
Hollies swung through town. Not onlyis
this a remarkable solo set in impressively
high fidelity, but the owner and operator
of the tape recorder that night, raptin

the front row at this “fantastic girl with
heaven words”, was none other than Jimi
Hendrix. The guitarist — Joni's Reprise
labelmate, even though they had never
met – was engaged at the Capitol Theatre
across town, called her up in advance, and
showed upat the door with a reel-to-reel
under his arm. The wonderful mental
image of Hendrix the fanboy kneeling at
herfeet, with his Mexican moustache and
wide-brimmed hat, twiddling knobs and
adjusting the sound for his own private
collection, greatly enhancesan already
lovely solo set.

Inhis diary Hendrix described the
tapes as *marvelous sound on first show.
Good on 2nd". It's not clear how much
postprocessing has been applied, but
therecording paints an extremely vivid
picture ofthe unamplified Joni from a
couple of meters away. Even so, we're
lucky to be able to hear it at all, as
someone nicked the original tapes from
Hendrix a few days afterwards. They
eventually turned upin another collector's
stash that had been donated to Canada
Library and Archive, who handed them
backto Mitchell.

Onalltheliverecordings here (Ann
Arbor, Carnegie Hall, University Of
California, The Dick Cavett Show,
Saskatchewan, Vancouver, London),
Joni's between-song chats remain
affable yet never self-belittling. It wasn't
always easy for female solo artists,
amid the macho camaraderie ofthe
road. Considering she's navigating the
spaghetti interchange of these fleeting
relationships, holding the act together
under heavy label manners and touring
discomforts, Joni’s composure on stage
deserves to be marvelled at. In London,
four months after the Isle Of Wight
debacle, she’s still taking her time to
spin stories about sagacious kids, or
the history of the dulcimer. The way she
ends “Big Yellow Taxi” trilling “They
paved paradise”, dipping down toa false
baritone for “put up a parking lot” is
always charming. John Peel is compere,
and the compilation also includes her
live session for Peel’s Top Gear from
September 1968, with the John Cameron
Quartet cloaking her in neo-Renaissance
apparel more familiar in the Albionic folk
ofthe time.

These few tracks aside, this Volume 2
contains very little trace of the jazz pivot
her music would take later in the decade.
The outtakes covering that period are
going to make fascinating listening.
Meanwhile, this feels like a completist’s
dream — because even Joni Mitchell’s
storeroom sweepings are spangled with
diamond dust.

NOVEMBER 2021: UNCUT: 45

JOELBERNSTEIN

O ARCHIVE

1 REDISCOVERED

Uncovering the underrated and overlooked

THE BEAU BRUMMELS

Turn Around: The Complete Recordings 1964-1970

NOW SOUNDS

7/10

Fight disc collection from 'Frisco's Brit beat adventurers

ASIGN of how quickly the folk,
country and “baroque and roll”
of The Beau Brummels entered
mainstream consciousness
came with their appearance
іпа1965 episode of The
Flintstones. Billed, almost inevitably, as “The
Beau Brummelstones” and sporting plum-
coloured, turtleneck prehistoric garb, the San
Francisco five-piece had been together less than
18 months when their animated versions took
to the stage of the Bedrock A-Go-Go nightclub to
perform “Laugh, Laugh”.

That debut hit (co-produced by a 21-year-old
Sylvester Stewart, before he rebranded himself
as Sly Stone) was at the vanguard of the Bay
Area’s reaction to the British Invasion, and
swathes of the Anglophiles’ early recordings
were informed especially by the acoustic strum
of Beatles For Sale. However, the harmonies of
lead singer Sal Valentino and guitarists Ron
Elliott and Declan Mulligan were, initially,
rooted in the pop-folk of closer-to-home outfits
like The Kingston Trio.

Introducing The Beau Brummels sets out
their stall, hook-packed Elliott originals
(the bubblegum-tastic “Stick Like Glue")
supplemented by feather-light covers of country
star Don Gibson’s “Oh Lonesome Me” and
bluesman Jimmy Reed’s “Ain’t That Loving You
Baby”. Volume 215 even more harmony-laden
and arguably the band’s strongest set of songs,
with Byrds motifs aplenty on the jangle overload
“Don’t Talk To Strangers”.

The band themselves were unhappy with
Beau Brummels ’66, a quickie covers project at
the behest of their new label, Warner Brothers,
rush-released to capitalise on previous success,
but underwhelming when held up against
the disc contained here of demos recorded for

46-UNCUT - NOVEMBER 2021

their former paymasters, Autumn. There’s

little joy in the workmanlike and wearisomely
obvious retreads of “Monday Monday” or

“Mr Tambourine Man” and a brace of Beatles
tunes, but the chamber-pop overhaul of the
Stones’ “Play With Fire” is eerily affecting, and
McCartney’s lesser known “Woman” (a medium-
sized hit for Peter & Gordon earlier in the year) is
a bouncy 12-bar shuffle.

Aslimmed-down lineup of Valentino, Elliott
and bassist Ron Meagher foresook the live stage
to focus on 1967’s Triangle, its multi-layered,
studio-bound psychedelia realised with the
help of primo sessioneers including Van Dyke
Parks, James Burton and Carol Kaye. A concept
album of sorts, its fantasy subject matter is
heavily influenced by JRR Tolkien (“The Wolf Of
Velvet Fortune”, first single “Magic Hollow”),
but covers of Merle Travis’s “Nine Pound
Hammer” and Randy Newman’s “Old Kentucky
Home” signalled asoon-come full-on pivot
towards country, as do demos of the previously
unreleased elegant strummers “Happiness Is
Funny” and “Elevators”.

Recorded at, and taking its title from, the
famed Tennessee studio of Patsy Cline and
Loretta Lynn producer Owen Bradley, Bradley's
Barn (68) sees Warners attempt to pitch the
Brummels to the same burgeoning country-rock
audienceas labelmates The Everly Brothers (who
would cover “Turn Around" for their own Roots
album the same year). Honky-tonk hues are to
the fore, not least on stripped-back outtakes of
Johnny Cash’s “Long Black Veil” and Dylan’s
"TII Be Your Baby Tonight”, but it's at its most
robust on “Love Can Fall A Long Way Down”,
reconnecting with the shimmering harmony
pop that first brought the band to the attention
of record buyers.

Extras: None. TERRY STAUNTON

SEX PISTOLS
76 -77 UNIVERSAL

8/10

Rottentothecore:foundation punks’
complete democollection

*Thisis awful; [hate songs
likethat," moanedJohnny
Rotten as the Sex Pistols
strutted through Chuck
Berry’s “Johnny B Goode”

Із ina1976 session. The singer
despised rama-lama rock from the get-go,
but this exhaustive piece of archaeology
shows that the Pistols took their time finding
their revolutionary edge. A souped-up Faces
fronted by Old Man Steptoe in 1976 sessions
with Chris Spedding, their lapses of taste
continued as guitarist Steve Jones slathered
Brian May solos over a larval “Anarchy In
The ОК” later the same year. 76-77 shows
how Glen Matlock’s florid bass runs and
geezer-ish backing vocals rooted the Pistols
in the old world, and howit took Sid Vicious
and producer Chris Thomas’s monolithic
Never Mind The Bollocks wall of sound to
make thema band truly worth hating.
Extras:8/10. First official release of eight
instrumentals and alternate mixes; a fourth
disc collects the Matlock versions from the
strategically leaked Spunk bootleg. JIM WIRTH

NANCY SINATRA
Boots (reissue, 1966) ионтімтнедттіс
7/10
Apatchy but oft-inspired pure pop debut

She may have had astrong

team behind her - producer

Т Lee Hazlewood, arranger
3 Billy Strange - but on

Boots, Nancy Sinatra marks

outa unique personality,
sharp asa tack and musically limber, with
avoice bristling with attitude. Some of the
arrangements here are a little perplexing:
opening with a bossa nova take on “As Tears
Go By” doesn’t do the song orits lyrics any real
favours. “Day Tripper” follows and isn't much
stronger. There are a few other misjudged
moves here and there, but that’s more than
countered by Boots’ many strengths, not least
“These Boots Are Made For Walking”, whose
insouciance and unpredictability still has the
capacity to startle. Its descending bassline
must have already felt iconic; Sinatra reuses it
in “Day Tripper” and “Flowers On The Wall”.
And that voice is never less than compelling.
Extras: 6/10. An interview and two bonus
tracks. JONDALE

SMALL FACES
Live 1966

NICE

7/10

Early European forayrecaptured

The first release on drummer
Kenney Jones’s new label
captures two live sets played
bythe band at the Twenty
Clubin Mouscron, Belgium,
onJanuary 9, 1966. The
sound quality has occasional fluctuations,
but the performances are ferocious, capturing
the band on the cusp of success. The later of
the twoshows hits harder, with Steve Marriott
stretching “E Too D" into a thunderous

tribute to Chuck Berry which fades rather too
abruptly. There’s an energetic salute to James
Brownon “Please, Please, Please”, and >

COLLECTOR

BOWIE, BEATLES, DEPECHE MODE, DARK...

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THE ONES YOU MIGHT OWN... & THE ONES YOU DREAM OF OWNING

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STEPHEN DUFFY HAF SPECIALS THE NASH RAMBLERS

SUBSCRIBE TODAY
FROM JUST £42 Released for the first time, the 1990 live

AIRES recording of the legendary, Grammy-winning
group’s hometown debut at Nashville’s
Tennessee Performing Arts Center, which sat
unreleased in the vaults for three decades

p$

„ Т,”

‘The Ramblers ready Emmylou for her finest decade
yet. Her newly acoustic terrain stretched back

TO ADVERTISE IN UNCUT decades into America’s roots, yet covered songwriters
ft , too, all i isi i -
SEES ence er a Е
LJ

‘The 23 songs include churchy traditionals, Outlaw
Country and pop and folk rock covers filtered
through spirited, road-honed, note-perfect bluegrass.
Thereʻs not a bad track here and a slew of
eaii highlights, Harris’ voice both fragile and powerful.’

GUERRILLA GIGS N —

HIDDEN
TREASURES:

THE SECRET
HISTORY OF

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COURTESY OFFANIA ARCHIVES

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VARIOUS
ARTISTS

It's A Good, Good Feeling:
The Latin Soul Of Fania
Records свлғттко

8/10

Get down to the boogaloo
with New York’s leading
Latin label of the ‘60s °70s

BEYOND its worth asa
lovingly packaged set of
irresistibly energetic music
| — either spread across four CDs
| or condensed to two LPs — Craft
** Latino's newest tour ofthe Fania
vault is invaluable as a study ofthe 20th-century
American melting potin action. While the
process of assimilation and adaptation often
diluted the proverbial pot's contents elsewhere
inthenation, theunique conditions in New York
continually yielded rich results. What could
have been a thin soup was instead a chunky
stew, the constituent morsels still recognisable
yet entirely complementary. In the case of the
city’s preeminent purveyor of Latin music, the
ingredients — whether their origins were black,
white, Cuban, Puerto Rican or much else besides
-yielded a meal that was tasty as hell.
Founded in 1964 by bandleader Johnny
Pacheco and lawyer Jerry Masucci, Fania
was not New York's first label to serve Latin-
American listeners and performers but it soon
became the dominant one. Consisting of 89
A-sides and B-sides released between 1965
and 1975, It's A Good,
Good Feeling reveals
therapid rate of
development as the
growing roster ofacts
synthesised styles to
create the sound that
became world-famous
as salsa (even ifits
progenitors couldn't
agree on what the term
meant). Fania showed
its slippery nature in its о
earliest releases, which
included both Pacheco's
turbo-charged charango
and the doo-wop of

48-UNCUT -NOVEMBER2021

1 THE SPECIALIST;

125th Street Candy Store, whose 1965 single
“Silent Ways” launches this set.

When the comedy act Tom And Jerrio hit
the Top 20 with “Boo-Ga-Loo” that same year,
Fania was quick to get on the bandwagon
while continually demonstrating what else
could happen when R&B, soul and pop got
Latin overhauls. The first Fania single for one
ofthe label’s future giants, Joe Bataan’s “Gypsy
Woman" is one of many landmark releases here,
Bataan transforming The Impressions’ hit into
amambo-fuelled stormer. By the beginning of
the next decade, Fania's greats - most of whom
would soon join forces in Fania All-Stars, a
supergroup so super that their first concert drew
40,000 fans to Yankee Stadium – had soared
far beyond boogaloo, creating a pan-Latin,
peculiarly Nuyorican fusion that was equally
ecstatic and complex.

While It’s A Good, Good Feeling makes for
asatisfying showcase for the Latin soul of
heavy-hitters like Bataan, Willie Colon and
Ray Barretto, many tracks may be
discoveries even to the Fania
faithful. The fact that two of
the latter – El Apollo Sound’s

“Spinning Wheel”, which
replaces the bluster of
Blood, Sweat & Tears with
Havana-ready panache,
and Butter Scotch’s “Today”,
an airy take on Philly Soul-
are both so different from the
explosive salsa that was
the label’s signature
proves the Fania saga
isacontinually
surprising one.
JASONANDERSON

the influence of Stax Records threatens to
erupt during the early show’s rendition of
“You Need Loving”. The band’s sound is

far heavier than their poppier hits would
suggest, though the closing rendition

of “What’Cha Gonna Do About It” hasa
calamitous energy all ofits own.
Extras:6/10. Sleevenotes by Martin Payne.
Alimited vinyl edition from the Small Faces
website includes alternate artwork signed
by Kenney Jones.

ALASTAIRMcKAY

JOSEPH SPENCE

Encore: UnheardRecordings Of
Bahamian Guitar And Singing
SMITHSONIANFOLKWAYS

9/10

Uncovered tapes of singularly deep
folk-blues guitarist

The legend of Joseph
Spence rests on a small

clutch of recordings that
initially found their way
De» into the broader world
V across the '60s and '70s.

Listeners to Spence sides like “Happy All
The Time" or “Good Morning Mr Walker”
—alistenership that included artists like
The Incredible String Band, Grateful Dead
and Ry Cooder - encountered a musician
almost aggressively free in the liberties he
took with his performances, though that
freedom was couched within gorgeously
cyclical melodicism anda vocal delivery
roughas guts yet rich with the history's
residue. The material on Encore draws from
unreleased tapes and live performances
and gifts usanother chance to experience
this startling player: “In Times Like This"
sparks with illuminated holy light; “Bimini
Gal” is chipped and forked, yet completely
lucid; joined by the Pinder Family on
chorus vocals, “Out On The Rolling Sea” is
sanctified and joyous.
Extras:None. JONDALE

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Cameroon Garage Funk

ANALOG AFRICA
8/10

Deep, sensual grooves with grit, from
Cameroon's capital

Гр Thegenesis of much of
the material compiled on
Cameroon Garage Funk
provides an object lesson
inmaking doand getting

‘Ei by. The many artists here,
all part of the ’70s underground scene
in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon,
recorded in an Adventist church while the
priests were away, under the watchful eye
of engineer Monsieur Awono. From there,
they’d shop the master tapes around, often
sending them to French label Sonafric. Now,
almosthalfa century later, the music’s given
asecond life. What's immediately striking
is the way the musicians balance a rough,
guttural energy with an instigative funk —
the grooves here are miles-deep – and the
kind of glistening, glittery melodies often
beloved of highlife. The 1973 singles from
LosCamaroes area perfect example – fluid
yet itchy, with a luscious melodic sensibility,
they perfectly embody Cameroonian funk.
Extras:6/10. Liner notes and artist
biographies (where available).
JONDALE

ViolentFemmes:
Ў rickety acoustic
punkrockreissued

Eins Und ZweiUndDrei
Und Vier: Deutsche
Experimentelle
E 1980-86 wave

wo pKraftwerk's “The

| Model" and Trio's
| *DaDaDa" wereUK
| е © hits, but the pastel-

puffa-jacket stylings
i 4 of Nena’s “99 Red
Balloons" and Nicole's "A Little Peace"
seemed more typical of Germany's pop
output to 1980s NME readers. However,
thisenlightening compilation shows
that beyond the language barrier,
West German indies like AtaTak and
ZickZack offered a feast of post-punk
stylings. Synthpop-ophiles will swoon
for the plinky-plonk of Der Plan’s
“Hey Baby Hop” and Pyrolator’s “Im
Zoo”, as wellas the ‘long mac’ sound
of Tráneninvasion's “Sentimental”.
P!OFF?, meanwhile, offer a pseudo-
Jona Lewie classic in “Mein Walkman
Ist Kaputt”, while keyboard wizard
Dorothea Raukes works vocoder
magic on Deutsche Wertarbeit's
“Guten Abend, Leute”. There’s some
austere modernism from the old-
school Conrad Schnitzler and Asmus
Tietchens, but the moodis largely
impish and joyous, in the spirit ofall-
girl punk band Ostro 430’s “Sexueller
Notstand”. Catchy. Like malaria!
Extras: 7/10. Helpful English
sleevenotes. Keep Google translate
open for the song titles. JIM WIRTH

VA BIAI IC ANRTICTC

IOUS AKIDIS
Fire Draw Near: An
Anthology Of Traditional
Irish Song And Music

RIVERLEA/ROUGH TRADE

Cameroongarage
funkers Johnny Black
f &Les Јокегѕіп1976

ARCHIVE ©

sewn Fire Draw Nearisthe

Ё spin-off ofa monthly
podcast and radio

i Show hosted by Ian
Lynch, frontman

4 of the Dublin folk
group Lankum. Lynchisascholar

of traditional Irish music, but his
relationship with itis also personal – he
grew uparound this music, belted out
byneighboursand family members
around campfiresor in pub back rooms.
On Fire Draw Near, he assembles 13
tracks of Irish traditionals captured
between 1949 and the present day.
There are energetic Roma fiddle jigs
(The Rainey’s “Woman Of The House”),
spry uilleann pipe reels (Tommy Reck’s
“The Kilfrush And The Trip To Durrow”)
and solo vocal pieces performed in the
haunting sean-nós style (Joe Heaney's
*Amhrán Na hEascainne"). The
recordings are often basic, captured
insitu — on Grace Toland's “Flora”

you can hear the mutter of punters

and the clink of glasses. But their raw,
unadorned quality often works in

the music’s favour, enshrining іаѕ
E of vivid lived experience.
:xtras: None.

LOUISPATTISON

Pop Psychédélique
TWO-PIERS/REPUBLIC OF MUSIC

Covering alot of
groundin arelatively
ГЕ short distance, Pop
Psychédélique gathers
ascoreofFrench songs
from 1964 onwards,
drawn from the hipper side ofthe
tracks. Serge Gainsbourg, represented
hereby the moodily percussive
*Requiem Pour Un Con" (from the
soundtrack to late-'60s crime caper
Le Pacha), isamong the more familiar
names. Asis his one-time recording
partner Brigitte Bardot, who excels on
“Contact” and the Motown-ish “Harley
Davidson”, both written by Gainsbourg.
Less celebrated treats include
Jacqueline Taieb’s “7AM”, a winningly
odd mash of yé-yé and psychedeliain
which a bored teen fantasises about
Paul McCartney and offers short bursts
of Elvis and The Who. Anna Karina's
“Roller Girl”, another Gainsbourg
number, is aStonesy gem, while more
modish tastes are catered to by the likes

of Air, Stereolab, The Limifianas and
L'Epée, led by Anton Newcombe and
actress Emmanuelle Seigner.

E None.

ROBHUGHES

VIOLENT FEMME:
Why DoBirds Sing?
(reissue, 1991)

CRAFTRECORDINGS

By the time Why
~ ~ DoBirds Sing? was
(> ; released, Violent
с> Д Femmes had
meandered from
their cultishly adored
self-titled 1983 debut, via gothic
country gospel (198475 Hallowed
Ground) and demented psychedelia
(1986’s The Blind Leading The Naked)
intoa bit ofa dead end (1988's 3).
Why Do Birds Sing? returned them

to their rickety acoustic punk rock
roots. It was, and is, wonderful. Тһе
deceptively breezy singalong melody
ofthe single “American Music" served
as a decoy for an album substantially
comprised of Gordon Gano's signature
dispatches of adolescent anguish –
though the likes of “I’m Free” and
“Girl Trouble” were leavened with

the self-effacing self-knowledge that
afew extra years should bestow. The
cover of Culture Club’s “Do You Really
Want To Hurt Me?” succeeded where
most alternative covers of pop hits
fail, by being an obviously sincere
acknowledgement ofa great song.
Extras:8/10. Outtakes, alternative
takes, liner notes, complete 1991
concert. ANDREWMUELLER

Carnegie Hall 1970

REPRISE

Neil Young has more
than 50 years oflive
recordings stashed
in hisarchives, but
heseems enamoured
ofsolo acoustic
performances from the early 1970s.

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ext time around we'll be
reviewing new ses

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plus hePopG

II's Yin Dub m ade more.
In the world of archival releases,
there'llbel
live, 50 years of J

and, yes, TheE ; Let It Be
motherlode. Dig it!
TOM.PINNOCK@UNCUT.CO.UK

Carnegie Hall1970, the first entry in
Neil's Official Bootleg Series, comes
hoton the heels of Young Shakespeare,
which captured a 19715010 show taped
less than two months later. There's
overlap in the setlists, but Carnegie
Hallhas its own distinct vibe, with the
songwriter coming to terms in real time
with his burgeoning, sometimes over-
enthusiastic fanbase. Clearly nervous
to playinsucha hallowed setting,
Young spars with the occasionally
belligerent crowd. But when things
calm down, Neil rewards them with
an often brilliant set, presented here
in not-at-all-bootleggy sound quality.
Highlights include three Buffalo
Springfield tunes – “Expecting To Fly”,
“Nowadays Clancy Can’t Even Sing”
and “Flying On The Ground Is Wrong”
—allreimagined for grand piano, plus
a preview of the Harvest to come with
anote-perfect “Old Man”, already
sounding like an utter classic.

ras: None.
TYLER WILCOX

GREAT
i SAVINGS

NOVEMBER 2021 - UNCUT · 49

HOWARD ROSENBERG, ANALOG AFRICA

COURTNEY BARNETT

RB
zb i

Locked downin her new Melbourne
apartment, COURTNEY BARNETT
has busied herself buying plants,
making soups and hoarding vintage
gear. Finally, she emerges with

a typically brilliant new album,
Things Take Time, Take Time - but
how do the Mojave Desert, Arthur
Russell and Joni Mitchell's '80s
albums feature in its creation?
"Youmight as welljust do what's fun
inthe moment,” she tells Tom Pinnock
Photoby IAN LAIDLAW

HE last place Courtney Barnett visited before
a global pandemic destroyed her plans, along
with everyone else’s, was a picturesque spotin
the Mojave Desert named Sunfair. “Looking
back, it seems like amoment hovering in time,”
she says. “It’s beautiful, boundless and
mysterious out there. Properly out in the desert.
Ihappened to be staying in Joshua Tree, having
abreak after my solo tour. I went to Stella’s [Mozgawa, Warpaint
drummer] birthday party. I was feeling particularly socially anxious
that day, во felt unnecessarily insecure meeting new people. By the
time I fell asleep early the next morning, all those fears and insecurities
had faded. That same day, I started writing asong.”

“Sunfair Sundown” appears as the second track on Barnett’s new
album, Things Take Time, Take Time. “It centres around a mutual friend,”
she explains. “She had just bought a house that day, so we were
celebrating that, musing on life, existence, the art of getting lost, all
those kinds of things.”

“The sunsets are ever-changing and always mind-blowing in the
desert,” says Stella Mozgawa. “It’s a very special place; it makes a huge
effect on people, especially artistic people. Everyone there that night has
acknowledged that it was kind of the last party of our lives, because then
immediately the Covid spike emerged and everyone flew back home.
That was our final memory ofa different world, I think.”

After that celebration – its poignancy akin to something from a
doomsday sci-fi novel - Barnett flew back to Melbourne to begin a
period of enforced isolation. Living on her own, іп а new apartment, she
found herself undergoing cold turkey after seven years of manic activity,
travel and expanding fame. >

2

50- UNCUT-NOVEMBER2021

“Ilwanttomakeso
many different
kinds of music”:
Courtney Barnett

>

= NOVEMBER 2021 : UNCUT -

IANLAIDLAW

COURTNEY BARNETT

“Ifindmusicso
mysterious and
so fascinating”

“Tt’s been one of the quietest periods of my life,

I guess,” says Barnett ona video call from
Melbourne, her music room dim in the light of the
Australian winter. “But I’ve been rolling with it. I’m
lucky enough to be able to work from home, which
is areal privilege. It’s been quiet, but I think it’s been
anice reflective time, catching up on all the books
you should read and the movies you should watch.”

Ofcourse, Barnett is no slacker – even if some still
misguidedly call her one. Her time in isolation has
produced her third solo album, the title “a lesson in
patience, a gentle reminder", according to its
creator. In many ways it's her boldest yet, a loose
stew of drum machines, percussion, droning
guitars and expansive keyboards. Primarily
featuring only Barnett and Mozgawa ona huge
array ofinstruments, mostly old and cranky, Things
Take Time, Take Time finds Barnett stretching
herselfas an artist, the new sonic textures setting
her evocative songs in even deeper relief.

“T find music so mysterious and so fascinating,”
she says. “I think that as soon as we lock ourselves
into alittle box that’s probably when problems
occur. The last Floating Points album with Pharoah
Sanders, that’s a great example of just stepping
outside the box and doing different things. I find
stuff like that really inspiring."

“Her narratives are like no-one else’s,” explains
friend Sharon Van Etten. “We have often talked
about being ‘stuck’ with songs. She gave me advice
on how she would try to have a routine in the
morning - she would wake up and put a timer on
and would make herself write whatever came
into her head for 15 minutes, just try to write every
morning no matter what. We had a writing
session together, fleshed an idea for a song out.

It’s still not done, but it was really easy and really
fun. And no ego."

During our conversation, Barnett explains how
she made the record, what fed into it, how she feels
about having a bona fide ‘career’, and even how
the follow-up may be an ambient and instrumental
electronic record.

“The last year wasn’t too bad for me, actually,”
she says, trying to exercise patience as Melbourne
enters yet another lockdown. “I think I enjoy my
own company. Sometimes. Most of the time...”

COURTNEY BARNETT
үң eT A FRIEND CALLED EmULY FERRIS,

Fig. XI, view FROr AEROPLANE э! ы

COURTNEY BAAWETT

How Te CARVE A CART wTO А ROSE

eager to try new things. She’s also, as muchas

people try, difficult to pigeonhole. Like many
artists who create great, lasting work, there’s asense she
could try out any style of music and it would suit her
inimitable vocal style and lyrical tone.

“She opened for mein Seattle in 2012, at the Neptune
Theatre,” recalls Van Etten. “They asked ifthey could
borrow our drumkit and our drummer, Darren Jessee,
listened to their stuff and was like, ‘Yeah, I'd love to
share the kit.’ But I don’t think he realised how hard
they played... he has a beautiful jazz kit. I really felt for
the guy - he couldn’t watch them play because they just
rocked so hard! To me, that show is representative of
how Courtney has this raw punkattitude while also
feeling like the girl next door at the same time."

Everyone wanted a piece of that combination,
though, so Barnett went into 2020 a little burned out
from touring, promotion and personal issues. Covid,
itseems, might have been a relief, if nota chance for
areset. Her parents livein Tasmania, the island where
Barnett spent her later teenage years, while her brother is
in Sydney, where she spent her childhood. She was free from

C OURTNEY BARNETT hasalways been restless,

HER
NARRATIVES
ARELIKE
NO-ONE
ELSE'S

SHARON VAN ETTEN

52-UNCUT-NOVEMBER2021

Hlistractions, for better or worse, and able to immerse
herselfin all kinds of creative expression.

“Гуе definitely accumulated a lot ofindoor plants
since Covid, which has been nice," she says. “I’ve
been cooking a whole lot more than I ever have, rice
and veggies, quinoa or homemade pasta – and lots of
soups, because it's so cold here.”

Barnett’s drawings have adorned the covers of her
early EPs and debut album, but she got heavily into
painting over lockdown, her favourite subjects for
watercolours and inks being her plants. *Courtney's
always doing cool things,” says Stella Mozgawa.
“Now’s the time to do it, because there's no real

touring yet. It’s time for everyone to do the little things
they’ve told themselves they want to do.”

Acupboard at the Milk Records HQ was also raided,
with Barnett taking its dusty contents home - the
synths, pedals and various electronic gadgets are now
set up in her home studio, and the songwriter’s been
heavily experimenting with them [see panel].

“These are things I haven’t used in years,” says

Barnett. “So that’s been fun in the last year, just

mucking around with putting keyboards through
guitar pedals, turning on a drum machine, making a
song for 30 minutes and seeing where it ends up. I just like
making so much different music. ‘Why just do one thing, even

Livestreaming from
Melbourne'sRoyal
Exhibition Building,

December 17,2020

though that one thing is really fun?' You might
as well just do what's fun in the moment."

This experimentation was put on pause when
Barnett emerged from lockdown to film a livestream
concert, From Where I'm Standing, at Melbourne's
grand Royal Exhibition Building in December 2020.
Joined by herlong-time rhythm section, Dave Mudie
and Bones Sloane, and cellist Lucy Waldron, it found
her playing a selection of favourite tracks in the huge,
well-lit hall. Alongside the likes of “City Looks Pretty",
“Avant Gardener” and “Need A Little Time”, though,
were a few new songs - “Write A List of Things To Look
Forward To”, *Here's The Thing”, “If I Don’t Hear From
You Tonight" — and a couple of covers. One of them, a
version of the Silver Jews’ “We Could Be Looking For
The Same Thing”, highlights Barnett’s love of country-
tinged music. Her own songs, it seems, usually start
their lives on acoustic guitar and Barnett is always
keen on giving them a country makeover in the privacy
of her own home.

“Ninety per cent of my songs can be played as classic
country songs,” she laughs. “I always sing them like that
around the house. It’s down to muscle memory, where
you play the same chords, or do the same thing. It's a
pattern, a comfort pattern, I guess. So I definitely tried to
[break out of that]. It’s such a simple idea, but sometimes
the way a song starts isn't how it needs to end up."

ATERIAL for Barnett's third album was
M written and ready by the time 2020 rolled

around, but the disruption caused by the
pandemic inspired her to continue exploring. “I just
wrote more songs," she says. “I liked the new ones
more. It’s areminder to trust that songwriting process —
sometimes a song only exists so that the next song after
it can be written, it unlocks something in you to allow

Stella
Mozgawa;
(below) the
4 artwork for
“Rae Street”

AN AUS]
GREEN WORLD

Barnett onher ambient
ject - whether we
get tohear it or not

WW RECKON everyone's gonna
| make an ambient album this
year! I've got aMellotron, a
couple of vintage drum machines,
an Acetone, an 808... l'velistenedto
awholelot of different music, and
bought afew differentinstruments,
synths and pedals, andl've been
experimenting with sounds. There's
awhole world - or many, many
worlds - to uncover, so yeah, a calm
ambient album will probably be
next, whether that gets released or
not, or it'sjust for my own pleasure.

With vocals? don'tknow.Maybenot.

"Sincel gothomefor Covid, I've
become anearly riser, which Ilove.
Igetup before thesun comes up
now.lmake coffee. Sit on the couch.
Read alittle. And thenl work on
whatever my project for the day is."

Withbandmates
Bones Sloane and
Dave Mudie at
Bonnaroo, 2015

Р

E

COURTNEY BARNETT

thenextidea. It's just part of the

writing process."

From theoriginal batch of songs,
only *Write A List Of Things To Look
Forward To" survived. Its lyrical
mood, wryly emphasising gratitude,
tommunication and positivity,

PF ^ provided a template for Barnett's
new songs. “I have so many songs on the
go, and every day when I'm writing I just
move on to thenextoneifIhita wall. P11
cycle through 20 songs in one day, until
one gets finished. I certainly admire

people who work on one song until it’s
finished. But maybe my brain is not wired
that way. The songs kind of exist, they
soak in the world around them as time
goes on. What comes out the other end
could be something totally different from
where it started."

Despite all this craft and graft, the songs Barnett
came up with felt fresher and organic. “She’s just
brilliant - she has a way with words and a way of
delivery," says Audiobooks' David Wrench, who
mixed the album. “This is not lazy music at all, it's
very focused. There's obviously alot of work gone into
itandalotofcrafting. It's brilliant."

“Courtney’s songs are very circular and deceptively
simple,” says Sharon Van Etten. “Songs about her

walking through her neighbourhood or just the act of

| trying tositand think, things likethat, on the surface
= seem simple. But] end up thinking about them fora

really long time.”

Van Etten is referring to “Rae Street”, the first single
from Things Take Time, Take Time, in which Barnett
takes the listener through a series of tableaux from the
titular street (on which she used to live) or indeed
almost any street on the planet. There are touching
scenes — “The parent teaches the child how to ride the
bike... Two dogs entangle, everybody smiles” — but
deeper listens bring more layers, until Barnett seems to
be touching on philosophical matters of existence and
stoicism: “There’s one thing I know/The sun will rise
today and tomorrow/We"ve got a long, long way to go".
There's humour, too: *Don't stick that knife in the
toaster/Baby, life is like a rollercoaster/And there's
nothing wrong with getting older", she sings
nonchalantly on “Take It Day By Day”.

“T think the layers are probably that nice little
mystery of songwriting,” says Barnett. “When you try
too hard to do something, it doesn't quite work out the
way you want to... I don't quite know the answer. I
definitely sculpt things so they have many different
layered meanings. But sometimes it's just an accident."

“Tt’s whatIlove about, say, Neil Young's music,” says
Stella Mozgawa. "Truth and honesty and simplicity.
Finding this really elegant way to say these really
complicated, nuanced things. It feels like there's this
even deeper kind of elegance to some of Courtney's
lyrics on this new record."

These thoughtful, reserved songs go hand in hand
with their composer's introspective nature, which
Mozgawais especially conscious of after spending so
longin people-pleasing Los Angeles.

"She's mysterious," she laughs. “The first few times
Imet Courtney, I wasn’t sure if we fully connected, but
I'msoaccustomed to LA, where it's more apparent if
people want to be your friends. Australians in general,
Ithink, culturally, can bea little more mysterious. І
havethatin meas well. But it took a couple of social
events to determine that Courtney didn’thateme.” >

NOVEMBER2021 -UNCUT :53

FILMMAGIC/FILMMAGICFORBONNAROO ARTS AND MUSICFESTIVAL:
MARCELLEBRADBEER;ILYA 5. SAVENOK/GETTY IMAGES; JOHALE/REDFERNS

COURTNEY BARNETT

As their friendship deepened and they worked together on
Barnett and Kurt Vile’s Lotta Sea Lice LP, the songwriter began
sending Mozgawa occasional demos. Last year she sent overall
her new material: half were voice memos played on acoustic
guitar and half were GarageBand demos featuring Barnett’s
treasured drum machines, especially her Roland CR-8000,
inspired by the stash at Wilco’s Loft studio in Chicago.

“Once Га written the songs, I tried to pull them apart a little bit
and see how they could be different,” says Barnett. “I tried to
play the same song in 10 different styles and see which one
sounded interesting. ГЇЇ play it really fast or play it really slow or
play iton piano. It transforms a song."

“Courtney, Kurt Vile and Cate Le Bon are very committed and
focused when they work,” says Mozgawa. "There's an authentic
easeinalloftheir working methods - there's obviously doubt
andallthe things artists experience when they're creating
artthat means something to them, but for the most part,
there's just a knowledge of who they areas artists."

Г 7 HEN Barnett went into Sydney's analogue
| / Golden Retriever studio with Mozgawa
attheend oflast year, she'd effectively

tricked herself into making an album. It was
necessary, she says, in order to deal with the pressure
offollowing up two hugely successful records.

“ТІ convinced myself that I wasn’t making an album.
Whatitdid was kind oftake the pressure off mea little bit.

IANLAIDLAW

^ .54-UNCUT-NOVEMBERZ2O21

Ё
Workingon шқ

collaborative
albumLotta
SeaLice with

à It was maybe my brain protecting myself somehow
from stressing out too much. I was trying to make the
music I wanted to listen to, so I ended up making quite
calm, simple, repetitive, meditative music."
Partofthat masquerade involved not recording with
herstalwart rhythm section; instead, Barnett and

Mozgawa, fuelled by tuna sandwiches from the deli

around the corner, tracked the record themselves,

Ў buildingondrum machine rhythms. They would share
bass and keyboard duties, while Barnett would look after
guitarand Mozgawa, drums and percussion.
Experimentation, it seems, was the driving force.

“Normally, I'd rehearse the songs for a few weeks
with the band and then go straight into the studio. But
this time the studio time was quite spread out, so I just
allowed myself the time to experiment a little bit and
make things up in the studio more than I normally do;
really unpack songs and take them apart and put them
back together again. We probably captured that slightly
naive version ofa song, when it's just being figured out.”

One of the covers on From Where I’m Standing, of
Arthur Russell’s “I Never Get Lonesome”, turned out to
be aclue to one of the guiding stars on Things Take
Time, Take Time.

“Twas sharing a lot of Arthur Russell with Courtney,”
says Mozgawa. “There’s a similarity somewhere – an
unabashed honesty, or sometimes honest simplicity to
both of their music. Keeping him and his approach in
mind witha lot ofthe songs was a really comforting
centre – we'd think, ‘Oh, what would Arthur do? What
kind of sound would he use on this?”

Most of Things Take Time... bolts Barnett's circling,
plaintive folk songs to a chassis of motorik electronics
and wonderfully scrappy synths. The best example of
this is "Turning Green" – Barnett, Mozgawa and mixer
David Wrench's favourite track on the record. It began
asaguitar-heavy song, until Barnett figured it recalled
a few of her older songs, soit was stripped back to a
suitably Germanic drum-machine pulse and Can-like
bass guitar – “one of those magical studio moments",
as Mozgawa puts it.

“Twas singing to a Wurlitzer when we tracked it,"
says Barnett, “but then I took that out as well. It sounds
alittle bit unsettling and doesn't sound as pretty as it
could be, but I like it more like this. I got rid of the guitar
until the silly guitar solo at the end...”

That solo is one of the most thrilling moments of the
album, with Barnett thrashing away over gentle piano
chords. “Oh, she’s a brilliant guitar player,” says
Wrench. *She's got her own style with it, and that's
hard these days, to put a unique style on її. We didn't
want the mix to be too polished or too slick. Iove all
those old’7os drum machines as well – so we wanted
them to drive it, then have the real percussion and
drumson there as well."

"Albumsare
adocumentof
thatonelittle
time, likea
photograph”:
Barnettand
Hasselblad

The gentler, textured “Here’s The Thing" showcases
Barnett’s more atmospheric guitar techniques, with
her taking a cello bow to her instrument for “stringy
kind of sounds... I did a lot of bowed guitar, a lot of
drone sounds, it just thickens it out. And it's cheaper
than a cello player!”

“Oh, The Night” finds Barnett on drums and
Mozgawa on piano. Lyrically, it acts as a counterpart
to “Rae Street” – whereas the album's opener finds
Barnett “waiting for the day to become night", its
closer has the tortured narrator reflecting on how
“the night goes so slowly". The cyclical nature of all
things seems to bea thread that runs through the
record: *a baby is bornas a man lays dying... and so,
onitgoes", as "Write A List Of Things To Look
Forward To" puts it.

“Tt was a bit ofa recurring theme without me even
knowing it, while I was writing all the songs," says
Barnett. “There’s definitely a lot of ‘day into night’,
and ‘night into day’ imagery on this album. But then
I think I forgot until I did the tracklisting. It was an
accident, but it was kind ofa perfect accident, if that
makes sense."

\HOUGH Melbourne is іп another lockdown

when Uncut speaks to Barnett, she’s just

broken her long period ofisolation with a trip
to New Zealand and some Covid-safe solo shows,
with Mozgawa joining her partway through toadd
drums and bass.

“They were my first shows ina year anda half,
which is a little bit weird,” laughs Barnett.
“Remembering how to travel, how to play, how to
perform on stage... I forgot so many of my lyrics.
There were some comical moments of people in the
front row Googling my lyrics for me on the first night.
It happened with about five songs!”

When Uncut spoke to the singer-songwriter back in
2015, she’d just released her debut album, but was
already talking about all the different records she’d
like to make – “one of those big orchestral albums
anda solo album on piano and all that shit”, she said,
tongue slightly in cheek.

“T probably joked about it, because it seemed like
adaunting task,” she says now. “But yeah, I want to

€

Acompilation of her first two EPs, this
setis still essential thanks to the likes
of “Avant Gardener”, "Out Of The
Woodwork" and "Lance Jr".8/10

The debut album proper, louder and
energetic on the grungey "Pedestrian
AtBest' and "Dead Fox", but gloriously
expansive ontwo epics, "Small Poppies”
and"Kim'sCaravan".8/10

— .LOTTASEALICE

Kurtand Courtney team

upfor thisrelaxed run
throughnew songs, covers of each
other's work anda few others. The
opener "Over Everything" is a sublime
duet, andBarnett's “Let lt Go" abrackish
grower.8/10

The darker yet more
direct second LPintroduces anartista
little numb from attention and touring
the world. There are powerfulsongs
within, though, from "Hopefulessness”
to"Need A Little Time”.8/10

Withits organic, relaxed
feeland experimentalboldness,
Barnett's third may be her finest album
todate. As the artist wouldno doubt
appreciate, though, time will tell. 9/10

“Remembering
how toperform
onstage...”: with
StellaMozgawa
at Auckland
TownHall,

July 25,2021

make so many different kinds of music. The options
are so, so huge, and it's eternally fascinating. I
definitely want to do all kinds of different things,
for sure.”

“She’s an old soul,” says Sharon Van Etten. “The
first time we ever met, it was like, you know when you
feel like someone’s seeing into you? I have a lot of
friends that I consider kind of gurus, where we
have conversations and there'll be long pauses,
sometimes painfully long, because they’re thinking.
When they do say something, it’s some of the most
meaningful conversations I’ve ever had. It’s made me
change the way I talk! Courtney’s someone that has
always done that.”

It’s humbling to think that a decade ago Barnett
hadn’t even released her first EP. In the years since
then, she’s built herself a career of the kind her heroes
have, along with her own record label and a network
of like-minded artists. “It’s pretty mind-blowing,” she
says, as the evening shadows growin the unlit room
behind her. “I’m not always the greatest at
appreciating things I’ve done, or stopping and
celebrating moments. So I have to remember to do
that. But it's wild. I try to really trust my gut.

“One thing I did in the last year was delve into more
of Joni Mitchell’s catalogue. I’ve always loved the few
albums I know, but I'd never stepped outside of those
ones. Chalk Mark In A Rain Storm was my favourite
discovery. I absolutely love going on a journey
through someone's back catalogue, through decades
of music. Wealljoke about, like, someone's '80s
period or whatever, but it's incredible when you hear
thetime affect orinspire the music."

Asin her songs, Barnett leaves a lot unsaid, but
it seems she’s gradually accepting she’s probably
one of those artists producing a deep and winding
discography for future generations to explore.

“Music exists forever, songs are always gonna
change and evolve; but albums are a document of
that one little time, like a photograph. I think that’s
really, really nice.” ©

Things Take Time, Take Timeisreleasedon
November 12viaMilk! Records, Mom * Pop
Music and Marathon Artists »

NOVEMBER2021 · UNCUT : 55

DAVESIMPSON/WIREIMAGE

MICHAELLEVIN/CORBIS VIAGETTY IMAGES

THE EVERLY BROTHERS

56-UNCUT-NOVEMBER2021

4

With the death of DON EVERLY,
aged 84, time has finally been called
on THEEVERLY BROTHERS - one
of rock’n’roll’s earliest and most
important duos. Stephen Deusner
reflects on the pioneering music
made by Don and his brother Phil,
while Ray and Dave Davies recall
the impact the Everlys had ona
generation of musicians: “Don and
Phil influenced many of us”
Photo by MICHAEL LEVIN

~ HEARTBREAK
AND
HARMONIES

Bluesbrothers:
- PhilandDon
Everlyin 1963

NOVEMBER2021 -UNCUT : 57

ARCHIVEPHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES; HULTON ARCHIVE/GETT Y IMAGES; JEREMY FLETCHER/REDFERNS

Onthecase:
PhilandDon
in1958

N the mid-'50s, no-one wanted to cut “Bye
ByeLove". The songwriting team of Felice
and Boudleaux Bryant shopped it around
Nashville and got 30 rejections. Then the
song found its way to a teenage duo
freshly arrived in town and signed to
Cadence Records. Don and Phil Everly – 19
and 17 years old respectively — agreed to
cutit. But once they got in the studio with
aband, led by their mentor Chet Atkins,
they realised something was missing.
During a break, Don started practising a riff on his
acoustic guitar — a choppy, staccato rhythm

with an emphatic downward strum. «5

He'd based it on a Bo Diddley lick. E
Boudleaux Bryant loved it. They É «-
addedittothesong’sinttoas Á
afanfare, and thesingle 4
nobody wanted quickly

shot to Мо2 оп the Country
charts. By the time they
performeditattheGrandOle |
Opry, they had a crossover
hitontheir hands. No more
country package tours; they N BYE
quickly graduated to rock
shows organised by Alan Freed.

32 тәй жі

KI
“=

Don Everly’s riff was significant – not just as a
revved-motorcycle opening to one of the great singles
of the ’50s — but also a demonstration of how he and
his brother bridged black R&B and white country
music to put a new spin on rock'n' roll. “Bye Bye Love”
heralded a band steeped in expressive songwriting —
by the Bryants, but also by Don himself - and taut
sibling harmonies. The song's subject matter is bleak
— “Hello emptiness, I feel like I could die"— but their
harmonies are upbeat, chipper, cavalier, as though
this teenage heartbreak is an everyday affliction. They

don’t brush off those bad feelings but complicate
= them ina way that resonated with fans
then and fans now.
It’s almost impossible to
ws overstate the Everlys’ vast
L "*— і} influenceonevery subsequent
: & generation of rock'n'folk and
| rootsartists. Paul Simon
heard them on the radio and
| started a similar group with
| hisfriend Art Garfunkel
| called Tom & Jerry; adecade
later, when they were
performing under their own
names, they covered “Bye Bye
Love" with a capacity crowd in
Ames, Iowa. John Lennon and Paul
McCartney dubbed themselves The
Foreverly Brothers and covered their songs at
talent shows before moving to Hamburg. If a rock band
featured harmonies or dreamy teenage sentiments or
quarreling brothers, it meant they were Everly fans.
New generations regularly discover and cover them,
including REM, Cat Power, Angel Olsen, Sara Watkins,
Norah Jones and Bonnie "Prince" Billy.

But Don Everly, who passed away in August, was an
equally influential guitar player who specialised in
crispriffs, open tunings and rhythms that gently

focal With

Orchestra

“A spark
oflife that
staysin the

grooves”

Ray and Dave Davies
remember growing up
with The Everly Brothers

AY:"The Everly Brothers
Rss usall to harmonise in

rock songs. As aboy sat and
watched my family sing and dance
torecords by the Everlysin the front
roomof our family home. My big
sisters would go for the high voice,
while their boyfriends usually took
theleadline.Idid music classes
atschool, andthe teacher said
their songs were possibly alittle
simplistic, but he was teaching us
hymns and traditional English folk
songs. He claimednot to know much
about American popular songs.

"Later, my brother andltriedto

singthe parts, andafter awhile we
wouldstart to blend. It was amagical
moment whenour voicesreached
thatperfectharmony.It was only
asimple third, nothing challenging

dv

Spiritual
siblings:
TheKinks*
Ray and
DaveDavies

musically, butit gave usthe sense
that for once webothhadthe same
energy.For once we felt we were
unitedin what we were doing.
Whenmy brother andl toured with
bandslike The Hollies and didshows
with The Beatles, |heardsimilar
resonancein their harmonies, unity
thatbrings people together. Donand
Phil Everly influenced many of us."

AVE: "The Everly Brothers were
Dee listening for us.| wasn't

agreat student atschool, but
llearned aboutlife -how people
interact, what boys and girls do
together - whenllistenedto music,
especially their music. It's notjustthe
notes, it's the life that comes withit.l
loved all their songs, but one thatme
and Ray would occasionally play on
stage was Bird Dog..| didn't really
know whatitmeant.'Hey bird dog,
get awayfrommy quail! What's a
quail? Oh. |learned pretty quickly.

“llistened to'AlllHave To Dols

Dream’ whenlheardDon passed,
andit hadsuchafreshness. Their
voices sounded so good together,
sonatural. How did they know to do
that? It's like aspark of life that stays
inthe grooves.”

THE EVERLY BROTHERS ^: 0" ur susie

MAYBE TOMORROW

nudged the vocals along. Keith
Richards féted him as one of the
greatest rhythm guitarists ever.
After the success of “Bye Bye
Love” and that modified Bo
Diddley riff, The Everly Brothers
created a vast catalogue of
memorable hits that redirected
rock’n’roll music toward folksier
and countrier avenues, but those
hits were also weights around
their feet, creating a rift between them and overshadowing their later
accomplishments and experiments.

coal camp in Brownie, Kentucky, to parents who wanted to be
anywhere but there. They moved first to Chicago, where Phil
was born in 1939, and then to Shenandoah, Iowa, where their mother
and father had a radio show. Ike Everly was a sharp guitarist in his

own right, having learned the

basics of the instrument from

the same unnamed black artist
who taught Bill Monroe. He
and his wife, Margaret, taught

a Tm

T HE Everly Brothers grew up singing. Don was born in 1937, ina

their sons complicated four-
part harmonies. Don started
singing on the radio when he
was only eight years old. Little
Donnie and Baby Boy Phil, as
they were known on the air,
were a big hit and the family
moved to Tennessee to launch
themasa country duo.

By thetime they hit puberty
and then Nashville, Don was
writing his own songs and developing his own lyrical voice. Kitty
Wells recorded his song “Thou Shalt Not Kill" in 1954, when he was
just 15 years old, although its mix of biblical morality and honky-tonk
man-stealin’ was beyond his years. Through Chet Atkins, they
signed with Columbia Records, but were quickly dropped when their
1956 debut single, *Keep A'Lovin' Me", failed to chart. They landedat
Cadence Records, a smaller label but home to Andy Williams and
Link Wray. “Bye Bye Love” introduced the brothers to mainstream
audiences: two handsome, harmonising pin-ups cleaner cut than
Elvis but more rakish than Pat Boone.

Whether they were singing Don's songs or hits penned by the
Bryants, the Everlys hinted at deep teenage desires and miseries. >

~

BelowPa:
- withfather
Ікеіп1958

Your

THE
EVERLY
BROTHERS
TheirfirstLP
includestheir
massive first
“> hit "Bye Bye
Love" and their even bigger follow-up
“Wake Up Little Susie". They're still
working to distinguish themselves
musically, but the brothers emerge as
strong singers and players blending
popandcountry.8/10

SONGS
OUR

Attheheight of
their success
the Everlys
releaseda quiet album of pop
standards and old-time favourites.
It'sjust their two guitars and their two
voices blending together beautifully.
Bestis the softly heartbreaking "That
Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine". 10/10

IT'S EVERLY
TIME
WARNER
BROTHERS,
1960
Their debut
for Warner

- Brothersis
a Iz collection featuring Chet
Atkins on guitar and Floyd Cramer on
piano. It open with one of Don's finest
compositions, theintensely heartsick
“So Sad (To Watch GoodLove Go
Bad)’.8/10

4 BROTHERS
M [WARNER
BROTHERS,

TheEverlyshad
impeccable taste in songs. They cut
Felice and BoudleauxBryant's "Love
Hurts" right before Roy Orbison gotto
it, and their "So How Come" waslater
covered by The Beatles. Thisset also
includes one of Don's best originals,
“Cathy's Clown”, their lastsmash.
8/10

THE
EVERLY
BROTHERS
SING
GREAT.
COUNTRY
HITS

WARNER

BROTHERS, 1963

Aspiritual sequel to Songs Our Daddy
Taught Us, this eloquent collection of
country songs by Johnny Cash, Don

| 3 country-rock,
| the brothers revisitsome more

| songs their daddy taught them, such
; as"Shady Grove", and add afew

| they learned themselves, like Merle

: Haggard's"Mama Tried". 10/10

THE EVERLY BROTHERS

ide to...
Brothers

| GibsonandHank Williams, among

; others, features only the two brothers"
| guitarsandvoices.9/10

CADENCE, 1958 :

TWO
YANKSIN
ENGLAND
WARNER
BROTHERS,
1966
TheEverlys
recorded

TWO YANKS IN ENGLAND

| thisalbumatPye Studios inLondon,

} coveringsome of the very same

| bands they inspired. The Hollies add

: snappy electric guitars, andrumour

2 | hasitayoungmannamedReggie
DADDY } Dwightplayed piano during the
TAUGHT US |

CADENCE, 1958 ;

sessions. 8/10

ROOTS
WARNER
BROTHERS,
1968

we For their
landmark
album of early

zum DON

ғ” EVERLY

ғ, ODE, 1970

- Onhis

solodebut

э й DonEverly

- a\ deconstructs
country

| standardssuchas"When|Stop

г Dreaming" andadds excellent

: originalslike "Omaha". Mostsurprising
| ishisreimaginingofthe cowboy classic

"Tumblin Tumbleweeds' as ahippie

, psych-country barnburner.8/10

g EB 84
MERCURY, 1984
2 PhilandDon
followedup
their 1983
reunion concert
with this solid
comeback

i Am produced by Dave Edmunds.

| Thestandoutisopener "On The Wings
‚ OfANightingale" pennedby superfan
} PaulMcCartney.8/10

THEPRICE
OFFAME
1960-1965
BEARFAMILY,
2005

Thereare

scores of
compilations,

' butthiscollection skirts nostalgia by
i includingalternate takes, Christmas
: carols, evenltalian and German
| versions of familiar songs.9/10

NOVEMBER2021 -UNCUT : 59

MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES

THE EVERLY BROTHERS

*Wake UpLittle Susie", a story-song about
missing curfew with a date and bracing for
scandal, was even more popular than *Bye Bye
Love" – although the song was banned in Boston
by the Catholic archbishop. Spending the night
with a girl, even if you were innocently dozing at
the drive-in, was far too salacious. It doesn’t help
that the brothers sing it like they’re trying to get
their stories straight.

Like the girl groups just then becoming
popular, the Everlys spoke directly to fans, their
harmonies heightening that sense of intimacy.
They sang often about dreaming, as though they
understood that it was a crucial aspect of
adolescent life, a survival mechanism for the
cataclysm of young heartbreak. “Whenever I want
you, all Ihave to do is dream", they sang on one of
their biggest and most covered hits. *When I'm
dreaming daydreams, who comes into view?" they
ask on “Always It's You". Especially after seeing
girls go crazy for Elvis, the brothers invite their
fansto daydream about them, which
primed the shrieks and screams
that greeted The Beatles. (9

4 > couldn't stay young

|] ? forever. Following
a royalties dispute with дету Pub 51
Cadence, they jumped 241
ship to Warner Brothers in
1960, then followed Elvis
into the military. Both
brothers enrolled in the
marines, although neither
shipped out for as long as Presley did.
Still, they emerged to find the pop landscape
profoundly changed. They still scored hits,
including Don's composition *Cathy's Clown",
butthey chased trends more than they set them.
Intheir quest to reconnect with a new generation

of record buyers, however, they made a wildly
diverse string of albums that showed the breadth

Hippie
dreamers:in
thelate-'60s
Roots era

Cash and Don Gibson. Three
years later, they added The
Hollies' electric guitars and
Big Beat drums to their British
Invasion covers.
The ’60s were not kind to the
Everly Brothers, and for many
fans their career ends there, with

P 3 UT Donand Phil
|

Ipe

CATHY'S CLOWN
THE EVERLY BROTHERS

ci ;
Thebrothers

of their range and the depth of their talents. With
just their guitars and voices, they re-embraced
twang on 1963's The Everly Brothers Sing Great
Country Hits, covering Hank Williams, Johnny

aresworn
intotheUS
Marinesin
1961

Don and Phil playing perpetual teenagers,
young men trapped in the amber of their fans’
daydreams. They sensed as muchat the time,
with both Don and Phil struggling with drug
addiction as they dealt with increased pressure
and decreased rewards. Their creative and
commercial frustrations strained their
relationship, to the extent that they spent time
together only on stage. But those stages were
getting smaller and smaller.

In 1968 they released what is generally
considered their best album, Roots, which
strategically allied them with the West Coast
folk-rock bands that counted the Everlys as
a foundational influence. Produced by Lenny
Waronker, it features a mix of country covers
(including Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried”) and
new songs (including a few by The Beau
Brummels' Ron Elliott) that would have sounded
even more adventurous at the time. It sounds a bit
more frayed than their older material, a bit more
stoned, as they find new emotions to express with

MICHAELOCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES; HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES;

CHARLESPAULHARRIS/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETT Y IMAGES

AlbertLee -

recall

playing a clubin London with

this coollittle band and these
guys were standingin the corner
listening to us. Turns out they were
Americans and they were working
with The Everly Brothers. My jaw
droppedbecausel wassucha
huge fan. That was the start ofa
longrelationship.

"Inthe’70s, |didsome American
shows with The Crickets andl was
invited to do agig at the Speakeasy
inLos Angeles. It's a small, late-night
club where alot of musicians used
togather.| went downona Tuesday
night and played with Don. After
that, we spent alot of time playing
together and got quite close. We'd

“| FIRST met themin1962.| was

60 -UNCUT - NOVEMBER2021

: doacouple of gigs together, or

: we'dspendaSunday afternoon

; jammingathisapartmentin Sunset
! Towers onSunsetBoulevard.| think
} heappreciatedhavingmeasa

! sidekick there for awhile, because

XC
“ғ
v

Right-hand
man: Albert
Lee withDon,
Brighton, 1985

; hemissedhisbrother onstage.

"In 1983, they were deciding

; whichmusicians they wantedat

| theirreunion show at Royal Albert

: Hall, andtomy greatluck they both
} chosemetobe their guitar player.

Itwasareally successful concert,
then afew monthslater they said
we'reallgoingtodoan album and
goontheroad. They werelooking
for ayoungproducer with amodern
approach, so Dave Edmunds was
suggested. We did two albums with

| himandthey wentreally well. But

Idoremember Philresented any
suggestions by Dave abouthow he
should do the harmony singing. You
don't tellan Everly how to sing!

“On the tour we'dbe out there

} playingandthose two guys upfront
| werenailingit.Butitdependedon

; themoodDon wasin.Somenights

i he wasn'tserious aboutit, andit

} wouldbeamisery.Butother nights
г hewas workingreally hard andit

| wasjustmagic. They hadapretty

г volatilerelationship over the years.

| Theytravelledinseparate buses

г andseparatelimos.Donlikedto

| spendtime onhis own. They played
г showstogether for 20 years. After

| Philsaidhe’dhad enough, I didn'tsee
г either of them very much. But! was
} fortunate tospendsomuchtime

| withthem.|lovedDon'ssolo singing
; andespecially his greatrhythm

| guitar playing. Istillchannelhimin

| thewaylsingandplay."

. "They lived
his guitar and stormed off. Don lives dedicated
finished out thenext two shows by to music"

himself. They didn't speak to each
other for 10 years. Will Oldham on What The
Brothers Sang, his 2013
е tthe peakoftheir successin Ever rlys covers СБ um with

LN А the’sos, the Everly Brothers Daw nMcCar thy
2. WAplayed the Royal Albert

Hall in London several times, pe ions 2
including their final performance E ПІ
with their father. But their biggest 2000sandasked
showon that stage came long after herif she wanted
their heyday, when they were at totour. We
theirlowest point creatively and startedtalking
commercially. In September poro "s
1983, they reunited for what was Қ ара | En
intended tobeaone-offevent.They ^ suggestedacouple of Everly Brothers
ran through the usual hits from the songs, including'So Sad’. Singing

late ’50s and early '60s, their voices withheris auniquely rewarding
showing the wear of age but still experience.Later shesuggested we

recordsome of those songs, and she
hadnoidea what she was gettinginto.
“When people talk about The Everly

Solebrother: complementing each other
Donin1970,on Е
iharclecsoot beautifully. The response was

hissolodebut startling. The event sold out, while Brothers, they'repretty much talking
alive album documenting the about that first string of hits - their
performance gave them their goldensound. Their first four years
those familiar harmonies. Ina way they’d finally biggest hit in memory. While it didn’t mend the of makingrecords when they were

teenagers. And that's cool. But they led

grown into those voices, but the album went nowhere. | brothers’ relationship, the reunion opened anew and d 2 )
s д Ө » livesdedicatedtomusic and there's
Few listeners wanted to hear the adult Everlys. much longer chapter in their career, and they'd stay on OPER e A ECCLE D EI UE
Still, it pointed them in new directions, as they theroad together for the next 25 years. period. Have youheard them do House
began to loosen up their songs and let them sprawl. The Everlys' comeback album in 1984 was something Of TheRising Sun’? There'sapart when
Don's 1970 self-titled solo debut is a wild affair, like a victory lap. Not only did it demonstrate the Donissinginglead andhe changes

opening with a deconstructed durability of their sound but they thelyricto, Tellmy brother Philipnot
roped in some of the bigger stars todowhatl'vedone'.Hesingsit with

cover ofthpeqwheyclisste extreme energy and emotion. He's
“Tumblin Tumbleweeds" and they had influenced. On EB 84, justwailing and wailing. I didin'tthinkl
traipsing into exotica, psych-rock, producer Dave Edmunds gave them neededto hear another cover of that

and weirdo country. Like Roots, pub-rock muscle, while Jeff Lynne song,butit'sreally powerful.
however, Don Everly was not PH | | WA LUE D and Paul McCartney gave them "They putsomuch emotioninto
heavily promoted and so was songs that didn't sound like cast- their voices, kindoflike Frank Sinatra
nothing close to a commercial offs. McCartney's *On The Wings or somebody whoknew how touse
breakthrough, but both add new Of A Nightingale” ful their vocalinstruments, knew the ins
CARIOUS Hout OL A0Ce jgnunga E Was автасеш h andoutsofthesongandconveyedthe
layers to the Everlys legend. H | IT AR AN [| showcase for their voices, capturing lyrics every time.Nomatter whatsong
Asthe 1970s wore on, neither the spirit of their early hits without the Everlyssang, evenifit was anovelty
brother did much to disguise his sounding nostalgic. After 1988's song, youfeltlike youunderstoodthat =
frustrations. It all came toa head in so-so Some Hearts failed to chart, ed "ie s at meant 2
1 when they pl Knott’ h he Everl andhowitworkedinthesong. T
s y Sb 5 is "E " p nus cnin ыле үе к je th "Iwasexcited that Dawn wanted to E
erry Farm іп California. They were recording new material altogether. doit,solstartedsendingher songs. g
scheduled to perform three shows, butbeforetheyever | But they continued touring for another 20 years, That'showwecameupwithour 5
tookthestage, Don announced he wasleavingtheduo: | weathering minor dust-ups and health issues. In 2003 masterlist. We wentdownto Nashvile 6
“Tve been wanting to quit for three years now and it is they joined Simon & Garfunkel on their reunion tour, andrecorded with my friend David 6
finally time to just doit,” he told reporters. "'mtiredof | playingashortsetin the middle ofthe show and Ferguson, who was buddies withDon. 3
being an Everly Brother. I still like to sing ‘Bye Bye Love’ | singing “Bye Bye Love” with two of their biggest Sohehadsome Sers andwegot $
sometimes, but I don’t want to spend my life doing it acolytes. Afterthat, Phil called it quits, claiming he'd weit ee tel ш
А Ө a RC Ту a yes. ? quis, 8 thestuff we were singing. There's one m
I’ve got to find something else." Their first set started had enough of the road, enough of those songs, enough songwedidcalled My Little Yellow E
shaky and went downhill from there. Five songs in, ofhis brother. He died in 2014 from complications of Bird’, whichis credited to Mickey &
Philabruptly walked to the side ofthe stage, smashed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Zellman. Who?llearnedthatDonused 8
Don stopped performing. He had always thatnameasanaliastohideroyalties >
" * . r a 4
needed а foil for his voice, if not his brother fromhis ex-wifein thelate'60s.Itsa 5
then someone who could sing like his brother с анаа А с
5 i didn'tevenknowitwasbyDonEverly.” 2

He kept to himselfin Nashville, rarely getting
out much. For someone who didn’t want to
spend his life singing “Bye Bye Love”, that =
song figured prominently in his final years. At | Y & BONNIE RINCE
aRock & Roll Hall Of Fame tributein2014,just Mg Мн бесте Er "=
months after Phil's death, Don was coaxed on | из”
stage to perform it as an encore. Four years
later, he joined Paul Simon in Nashville to sing
it one more time. “Well, that makes my night,”
\ Inharmony Simon told the crowd at Bridgestone Arena.
М e erm er “I got to be Phil Everly fora night." That was
ers келен Don'slast public performance, but he'd been
Saree saying bye-bye tous for years. ©

THE REPLACEMENTS

TheReplacements,

Minneapolis, 1980:
(I-r) Tommy Stinson,
Bob Stinson, Chris
MarsandPaul
Westerberg

— - p— mn —

77 62-UNCUT-NOVEMBER2021 `

Dis

All hail THEREPLACEMENTS! As a new boxset
celebrates the "Mats earliest recordings, we return to
Minneapolis at the start of the '80s to explore their
(im)modest beginnings. Join us in the basement of
3628 Bryant Avenue, where things are about to get loud.
"We went from being working-class nobodies,” Paul
Westerberg tells Nick Hasted, “to being infamous...”

Photo by GREG HELGESON

NOVEMBER2021 - UNCUT - 63

GREGHELGESON

THE REPLACEMENTS

Thebandformerly
knownasDogbreath:

gettingback to
“grungyrootsrock”
withapunk edge

wa

JULY 2, 1980. The drinks and hot dogs were on
special offer on the quiet Wednesday when
The Replacements played the Longhorn, the
ex-steakhouse that had become the testing
ground for Minneapolis's nascent indie scene.
Local tastemaker Peter Jesperson had
arranged their first rock-club gig, to see if
they might be ready to make a record. He soon
hadhis answer.

"They did two or three Johnny Thunders
songs,” Jesperson recalls. “When I met them,
they just wanted to be the Heartbreakers.

Bob Stinson was a huge focal point – a jaw-
dropping guitar-player, it was crazy the stuff
hedid. Then you had his brother Tommy, a
13-year-old bass-player, who for 15 of those 30 minutes
would not have had his feet on the ground - he was flying

and leaping. Paul [Westerberg]’s charismaandstagemannerwas | Е- F

very intense. Chris [Mars] looked like an axe murderer on drums, he
made these crazy faces as he played. They took my breath away.”

During the next decade, The Replacements honed their legend for
wilful self-destruction, routinely playing gigs where they’d bait
audiences and record company executives alike, shooting themselves |
inboth feetall part ofthe experience. The 'Mats revelled in being the
losers’ losers — a reputation that persisted long after they'd blown
apart in 1991 and Bob Stinson's death in 1995.

“We never had enough energy to bea total punk rock band and we
never really cared to be rock stars," says Tommy Stinson. “We pretty
unabashedly did whatever the fuck we wanted."

Westerberg adds: *We felt like, let's make them remember us, be it
good or bad."

Butanew boxset released to celebrate the 4oth anniversary of The
Replacements' debut album, Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash,

64- UNCUT- NOVEMBER2021

ОМОН.

documents a very different band. Between
1980 and 1982, The Replacements didn't
venture far from their Twin Cities base.
Fuelled by a mutual desperation to make
their mark and escape troubled home
lives, the young 'Mats were a remarkably
focused proposition.

“Tloved ет,” says Chan Poling, singer
with Minneapolis contemporaries The
Suburbs. “When we started, glam punk
rock like Joan Jett was coming out of LA,
even New York bands like Talking Heads
were more art-rock and British influenced.

The Replacements were one of the first to get
back to an Americana, grungy roots rock,

a throwback to the blues, folk, Big Star and Neil Young.
Tom Petty was doing that in a bigger, more commercial
sense - but The Replacements had that punk, super-
young, super-smart edge to it, too."

“The first time we saw them was in '81," adds Peter
Buck, “when REM played a festival in Minnesota. We saw
The Replacements in the afternoon, in direct sunlight,
and they smoked it. They felt completely different from
every other band on the bill. We went to see them play
athousand times after that."

“Twas looking at some old footage of us from the
basement where we used to rehearse, when we were
really young,” Westerberg reflects, “and we were a lot
better in the early days than I thought we were. We were

very cool. The clubs were smaller then, too – there was
something beautiful about being that close to each
other. I think we needed the moral support of stepping
on each other's feet. There was a cool confidence in

those early shows that I think we lost down the line. “We would smoke crappy weed and crank Yes. ‘Oh,
Because when we weren't trying, we were sublime. We | you hear that bass part, man? Listen to that.’ That was
brought the basement to the stage.” avery formative bit for me." Chris Mars - another
troubled teenager, who had a talent for visual art —
OB STINSON never really got over his childhood. joined on drums. Naming themselves Dogbreath, by
As detailed in Bob Mehr’s biography, Trouble Boys: | late 1978 they were playing local beer keg parties in
The True Story Of The Replacements, he and his backyards or basements on the edge of town. Wik Producer
sister Laurie were sexually abused, beaten and “We were rock'n'roll background music, playing % ж Ф)
verbally diminished by their drunken stepfather Stan, | whatever shitty 705 music we could conjure up,” ТА five treasures to
until their mother Anita fled back from Florida to Stinson explains. "Anything from Peter Frampton's be foundon the
Minneapolis in 1974. Bob subsequently self-medicated | ‘Show Ме The Way’ to Ted Nugent." I boxset
with drink. More positively, he escaped his troubles by Paul Westerberg was the same age as Bob. The son
playing guitar in the style of his heroes, Johnny Winter | ofa Cadillac salesman, who'd been a drinker since 13, (DEMO)
and Yes's Steve Howe. Returning home in 1977 after he plotted a parallel, more urgent course through
three yearsin juvenile institutions, 18-year-old Bob Minneapolis’s amateur rock scene. “Before The
found a musical soulmate in little Replacements I was standing at the

brother Tommy. ЕШІТШТЕ 4 microphone, strumming and
*Heshowed me how to make my wailing, with 10 other unknown

first cheeseburger at 10," laughs " B f 1 f WE bands,” he tells Uncut. A Catholic
Tommy. “Half the time we'd just be school dropout, janitor and "YOU'REPRETTY WHEN
RU

sitting on the couch eating Cheerios. T rock’n’roll scholar who devoured YOU' DE"
ButI'd been getting into so much WE REN I music biographies for clues to the (SOLOHOMEDEMO)
trouble that I'd already been to jail life he pined for, his voracious tastes 5
three times. Опе more and they were TRYING WE veered from Dylan to bubblegum

y pop. “The Faces were my favourite

going to send me away for eight
months. My only interest was in WERE SUBLIME" music as a young teen,” he says.

riding my bike as far as I could away “The Beatles and Ramones, too. But

from home every day. So when Bob The Faces were the first thing where

caught me ogling his Silvertone bass PAUL WESTERBERG I thought, it would be great to do UE саре
and taught me how to play it, he was this." Hearing "Anarchy In TheUK “JOHNNYF. SIONS,

keeping me out of trouble by turning in 1976 was also life-changing. “I BASEM VERSION)
me onto music. My therapist said about five yearsago, | literally went home, cut my hair and broke records ( ЕЙ?
‘Wow, he really wanted to get you guys out of there, so over my knee.” Johnny Rotten’s untutored power made

you could move on and get toa place of safety.’ I truly him desperately certain he could lead a band.

believe that that was Bob's motive in teaching me Walking down Bryant Avenue in the autumn of 1979,

music: get my little brother out of here." Westerberg heard what sounded like an incongruous,
Thesiblings' basement at 3628 Bryant Avenue snarling rampage through Yes's *Roundabout"

became a sanctuary. “Bob would plug the turntable blasting out ofa basement. What exactly intrigued

into two big, loud guitar amps," Tommy remembers. him? “Proximity. I didn't hear anything magical. I

heard a really loud, fast band that was four

blocks from my house.” Soon afterwards,

hisold schoolmate Mars invited

Westerberg over. “Once I got a look at hor

Tommy and Bob's sister, I thought, ‘OK, ГІ

come back!’” he laughs.

Though they were “kind of Chris’s band”,

Westerberg rapidly installed himself as

Dogbreath’s singer, rhythm guitarist and

writer. “This was the result of a manic

phase,” he says. “It came out of five years

playing in basement groups that were going “LIEABOUT YOUR AGE”
nowhere, realising that I had to grab this by (BASEMENT VERSION)
the horns.” “Well, yeah,” laughs Stinson.
“Pick a couple of jailbirds and a fucking
artist drummer. I mean, none of us had any
place to go!”

“Chris and I were the schizophrenic twins
who would have wild ideas,” Westerberg
says. "Tommy was a bit more conservative
and gregarious and Bob was from outer
space. He dressed like Charlie Parker in last
week’s clothes.”

The Stinson family now moved to 2215
Bryant Avenue, whose bigger basement
became an ideal band HQ. “Everything
changed once we moved,” Stinson explains]
“The old basement was dankand loud as
hell. Here we made a drum platform and

“From outer
space’:the put up a proper rehearsal room. The

n mL е : —~
- | 'Mats' Bob Replacements came to lifein that basement.
k DEISI We solidified ourselves as a band, by > 2 «кентке
п
WA %
3g к}
Dr. ч 1 , 5

%»Ү

Ж

GREGHELGESON

THE REPLACEMENTS

making alot of racket every day and working at it.
When these guys got off work, all they wanted to do
was play."

Westerberg's songbook was rapidly growing, too.
“Paul brought songs in on cassette that he'd recorded
in his closet singing and playing guitar,” Stinson says.
“Itd be, ‘Here’s a song that goes like this...’ Play along,
maybe і?! fucking hold together, maybe it won't. ч
That's the most prolific time we ever had." 1

Dogbreath’s name, meanwhile, had to go. “We
became The Impediments,” Westerberg explains. “We
played one gig and the guy said you'll never play here
again, so we changed to The Replacements."

The band's advent was mirrored by profound change
in Tommy Stinson, as the musical liberation his
brother had envisaged took hold. *My friend David
Roth came back from England with fuckin' Clash and
Sex Pistols under his fuckin' sleeve," he explains.

“That weaned me from what my brother was into."
Becoming a punk meant constant beatings by school
jocks, ’til help arrived from an unexpected quarter.
“Some black girls in the lunchroom said, ‘You guys
come sit with us.’ And they told the brothers, ‘Look
after these guys, they're different like we're different.’
That was really beautiful and empowering. By the
time I was 14, we were into something that had nothing
todo with those assholes.”

Y 1980, Minneapolis's independent music scene
had developed its own infrastructure. The Oar
Folkjokeopus record store, known to all as Oar Folk,
stocked imports, including “Anarchy In The UK”.
Manager Peter Jesperson wore many hats: he was a DJ
and booking adviser at the insalubrious but punk-
friendly Longhorn, which opened in 1977, the same
year as the Twin/Tone Records label that Jesperson
co-founded. “Those three things fed off each other,”
Jesperson explains. “The scene itself was really started
by The Suicide Commandos in 1975, who were
influenced by the New York Dolls and Eddie Cochran.
When we played the first Ramones album at Oar Folk,
weall looked at each other and said, ‘Wow, someone’s
doing the same thing as the Commandos.”
Other bands followed, including art rockers
The Suburbs and Hüsker Dü — who became The
Replacements’ only real, mostly friendly local
rivals (ribbed on Sorry Ma’s “Something To Dü”).
The Replacements made their first demo
in 1980 in the Stinsons’ old basement.
While songs suchas “Try Me” and “She’s
Firm” are relatively conventional garage
rock, asecond demo Westerberg handed
to Jesperson in May 1981, angling fora
gig at the Longhorn, showed how they’d
come on. Its opener “Raised In The City”
introduced a harder, more explosive
sound anda killer insouciant attitude.
“Tt roared out of the boombox,” Jesperson
remembers. “I might have perspired, I was
so excited.” The next night he called
Westerberg and asked if he wanted to makea
single or an album. “You mean you think this
shit is worth recording?” Westerberg blurted.
The Replacements’ Longhorn debut
followed on July 2. “We were fucking ready
to go,” says Stinson proudly. “All hands on
deck. We had nothing to offer but piss,

vinegar and songs.” The'Mats:
Jesperson, who soon became the 'Mats' d
manager and producer, got to know his bohemian

charges better as the months progressed. He 14:99 quarter

66-UNCUT-NOVEMBER2021

Aguidetothe

shares fond memories of their stage wild man, Bob
Stinson. “It made me really angry when people would
make cracks that Bob wasn’t smart. He was very
smart, one of the most unique people I’ve ever known
and just a diehard music fan. There was a little area in
Oar Folk with British music magazines and books.
Bob would buy Cokes and read and listen to records
for hours at a time."

The Replacements aced their next audition, too,
playing at Minneapolis's Blackberry Way studio on
July21 to convince Jesperson's partner at Twin/Tone,
Paul Stark, that they were ready to record an album.
“Blackberry Way was like a little granny’s houseina
neighbourhood street,” Stinson remembers. Although
the studio’s unfamiliar environment proved a
frustrating recording experience, sympathetic
co-producer Steve Fjelstad was key to easing the
band's stresses.“He could get shit down quick,”
Stinson notes appreciatively. *He didn't fuck around."

After several false starts, the band got down to
intensive sessions at Blackberry Way in January 1981.
Sorry Ma... may sound likeit was brilliantly bashed
out ina day - but its songs, honed in the basement,
tookseven months ofintermittent work to complete.
Apart from anything, Westerberg refused to play
anything the same way twice. “I’ve been known to fall

"THERE ARE BANANAS
GUITAR SOLOS ON
JOHNNY'S GONNA DIE"
TOMMY STINSON

inlove with the first time we do itin the basement," he
notes. “I can mean a song only once a day."
Tommy Stinson remembers being transfixed by
his elder brother. *There are bananas guitar solos
on ‘Johnny’s Gonna Die’ and ‘Customer’ that
nobody but Bob could have played. Chris’s
drumming was unique - as was my Ramones-
style 8th-note bass-playing – and when Chris
and I played together, it was super fucking
tight. Then you listen to Bob and Paul,
fucking playing off of each other like Keith
and Ronnie Wood. Holy shit! As fucking
haphazard a young bunch of fucking shit-
bags as we were, the amount of magic
between those two was a revelation."
Sorry Ma’s tracklist also grew in power
during its long gestation. “Johnny’s Gonna
Die”, with its loping reworking of “Chinese
Rocks” and lyric depicting Westerberg’s hero
Johnny Thunders’ decline, was very different
to the bratty writing elsewhere. It was inspired
by a gig by Gang War, Thunders’ short-lived
band with Wayne Kramer, at Sam's - later the
legendary First Avenue, site of Prince's “Purple
Rain" performance. Westerberg, Mars and
Jesperson were among those appalled by
Thunders, who was barely able to hold his
guitar. “It was intensely sad,” says Jesperson.
“But there were elements of the Thunders we
loved. Paul nailed that mood. Side two, track
one was the only place it would fit. It’s the first
ballad they’d ever done.”

IF ONLY YOU WERE LONELY

(P. Westerberg)

The

© 1981 NAH MUSIC, BMI

95 445 Oliver Ave. 99

CEMENTS

STINK.

"ре DON'T FOLLOW” PLUS ELEVEN

WesterbergandBob
StinsonatMinneapolis's
First Avenue, January
1986, justmonths away
from thelatter's departure

Westerberg’s later

writing was increasingly

defined by such ballads,

until Bob Stinson had no

place left in the band he’d

started. Early on, though,

he kept this softer side to

his talent under wraps.
Jesperson’s apartment

became a dead-letter drop for
Westerberg's sensitive songs,
handed over at midnight with a
coded bell-ring. *Paul would call
me and say, ‘I’ve got to get these
out of my house or I'm going to
erase them,” Jesperson explains.
*Helived 20 blocks south of me, and heran."

“If Only You Were Lonely”, the sardonically sensitive B-side
of Sorry Ma’s single “I’m In Trouble”, was the first evidence of
Westerberg’s more accomplished compositional skills.
Suburbs frontman Chan Poling, meanwhile, was an early
fan of Westerberg’s songwriting. “I loved his chords,” he
explains. “Paul was overlaying sevenths and eighths,
harmonics that gave it that melancholy sound, witha
tough rock underlay. REM was doing that too at the same
point. So it had the blues, but it also had that harmonic
that just could tear at your heart.”

Sorry Mawas finally finished in March 1981, though
Twin/Tone’s limited budget meant it wasn’t released until |
August 25. Its punky velocity and weirdly addictive songs
were well reviewed as far afield as New York’s Village
Voice and the UK music press. “I thought it should have
taken the whole music world by storm,” Jesperson sighs.
“But it was a great start.” Westerberg concurs. “The songs
on Sorry Ma hold up. It was definitely a showcase of the
four ofus as arock’n’roll band. We wanted to be wild,
with reckless abandon!”

“Twas just jazzed we made a record," Stinson laughs.
“Now what are we going to do?”

Johnny
Thundersin
1979: subject
oftheband's
only ballad

SOUNDCHE(

ND. gos
g w% records the 7th st.entry live D
L-tuesday | wednesday | thursday |
skamets | peer group innocents |
warheads |stagger lee rems
ma

THE REPLACEMENTS

wing during those formative months, giving
them first-hand evidence of the band’s
capacity for self-destruction. “I never hung out
with Bob,” says Poling. “We’d all drink and go
partying, but he was frightening. Once they
opened for us and Bob, tumbling backwards,
smashed our Marshall stack over. They were hit
and miss. The next night they'd be so fucking
tight, they gave you goosebumps."
The wind-chill factor was minus 40 when The
Replacements rolled into Chicago in January
1982, alongside Hüsker Dü. *Hüsker Dü and The
Replacements played а few shows together in the
early 1980s at O'Banion's in Chicago," Bob Mould
explains. “The O'Banion's regulars favoured
loud and fast punk bands and this may have
been one ofthe first out-of-town punk rock
shows for The Replacements. Tommy rode
with us in the Hüsker van. I recall the crowd

vocalising ‘Play faster!’ during their first set. I
don’t think they had much experience playing for
harder punk audiences, but they adapted quickly
and the audience eventually warmed up to them.”

The ’Mats’ inclusion of adrenalised anthem
“Kids Don’t Follow” that night so enthused the
always evangelical Jesperson that he talked Twin/
Tone into a second record, the “Stink” EP, a mere
six months since their debut. It was recorded in a

day at Blackberry Way. “It’s my favourite
Replacements recording,” says Mould. “If one
views “Stink” with the Chicago experience in
mind, it’s as ifthe EP is a snapshot of that particular
in-between time — were they going to bea punk
band, arock and roll band, or something else?”

For Tommy, the answer was Clear. “That was us
realising, 'Ye-ah, we're not really hardcore.’ After
that it got more cerebral, more thought out. We
worked more at making good pop and
rock’n’roll songs on our next album.”

Released in 1982, Hootenanny found The
Replacements travelling further afield. On
such trips, the Mats myth began to solidify.
“The drinking picked up more,” says Stinson.
“We realised, we can play really great when
we're not hammered, or just become this

sloppy rock band. Another thing quietly
came up the rear, which is it made us
alcoholics. The fact that we held together as
long as we did, with our beat-up mental
backgrounds, is amazing." Adds Westerberg,

*We went from being working-class

nobodies to being infamous."

The golden couple of years - when the

unknown Replacements were finding shape to
their music with Sorry Ma – seems like a
contrastingly happy, innocent time. “Oh yeah,
yeah,” Tommy Stinson agrees. “I do not want to
leave you with the sense that we were full of shit
and vinegar all the time. Those early days were
really fun and inspirational. We'd be true
Minnesotans aboutit, with a jaded nonchalance:
‘Yeah, that was a cool gig, whatever...’ But we rose
to the occasion every time. We were inspired.” ©

I HE Suburbs often took the 'Mats under their

Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash (40th
Anniversary Edition) is out on Twin/Tone/
Rhino. Trouble Boys: The True Story of The
Replacements by Bob Mehr is published by Da
Capo. TheSuburbs'new album Poets'Party is
outonSuburbs Music

NOVEMBER 2021 - UNCUT · 67

JIM STEINFELDT/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTYIMAGES; EBET ROBERTS/REDFERNS

DAVIDSUTTON; GRANT LAMOSIV/GETTY IMAGES;
VIVIENKILLILEA/GETT Y IMAGESFORSIRIUSXM.

The Making Cf...

These Boots
Are Made For
Walkin’ кенше

How the US singer hit her stride with a hip makeover and a “dumb”
song pinched from Lee Hazlewood: “I never get tired of talking about it”

EE Hazlewood changed
6 6 everything,” says Nancy
Sinatra. “I was doing
j bubblegum music and

singingin higher keys

and he said, ‘That’s not right. You're not
avirgin any more. You've been married
and divorced. We need to get you where
you belong.’ And he was right – it was silly
to keep doing what I called ‘Nancy nice
lady’. It was time for a change."

“So Long Babe" was the first fruits of this
new collaboration and it charted where
all the ‘Nancy nice lady’ singles had failed
to. With its kiss-offlyrics and Sinatra's

Itwastime
forachange’:
thenew-look
Nancy Sinatra
inthestudio

68> UNCUT *NOVEMBER2021

low, nonchalant delivery, it was what
Hazlewood would call “dumb”. *He'd
say, ‘Ifit’s dumb, it’s good,” says Sinatra,
speaking to Uncut from her Hollywood
apartment. “Meaning not stupid, but
simple. It’s tough to do that, it really is.”
Hazlewood’s next planned single for
Sinatra was “The City Never Sleeps At
Night”. But when the singer heard another
new track he and arranger Billy Strange
intended to record for a Hazlewood record,
she demanded to cut it herself. “I fellin
love with the song, right there and then."
To track the song, “These Boots Are
Made For Walkin’”, they enlisted the
help of the crack studio
musicians later known as
the Wrecking Crew, who
recorded it in a couple of
hours anda handful of
takes at Hollywood’s famed
United Western Recorders.
“Talways thought Lee
wasa cantankerous son of
abitch,” laughs keyboardist
Don Randi. “Once you got
through that wall, you were
OK. In Europe they knew
Leeasa solo artist before
they knew Nancy, which
was hard for meto imagine
because he was really closer
to being a hillbilly than
anything else.”
“He played at that,”
counters Nancy. “He played
at being a shitkicker and
he wasn't - he was highly
educated, extremely bright.
He wasa well-versed,
smart individual."
With “The City Never
Sleeps At Night” relegated

Nancy Sinatra
Vocals

DonRandi
Keyboards

Chuck Berghofer
Double bass

to the B-side, “Boots...” topped charts
around the world in 1966, helped along
by a pioneering colour video featuring
Sinatra - now a blonde - anda troupe of
dancers in, naturally, boots. The song
and makeover, the latter led by Sinatra
herself, cemented the singer as a global
success. Within 18 months, she sang John
Barry and Leslie Bricusse’s theme song to
You Only Live Twice, followed by a set of
pioneering songs made in collaboration
with Hazlewood, notably 1967's
transcendent “Some Velvet Morning".

“Т always say that I walked into this
wonderful, lucky situation," she explains.
“ІН had not had ‘Boots’, no-one would
have heard of me, except as Frank's
daughter. I never get tired oftalking about
it. It’s like having a child." TOMPINNOCK

NANCY SINATRA: We were at my mother’s
house when I heard the song for the first
time. Barton [Lee Hazlewood] and Billy
Strange came over. Billy had his guitar.
You can't really play the “Boots” bassline
ona guitar, but he managed to make me
understand what was going to happen.
But Barton wrote it for himself, which I
thought was a horrible mistake – because
aman saying “One of these days these
boots are gonna walk all over you" isa
nasty threat. Whereas with a girl singing
it, it becomes coy and kind of cute.
DONRANDI:I remember hearing Nancy
arguing with Lee overit. I heard her
saying, “I have to do this song", and that
was the end of that. What's great is the
persistence of Nancy - I mean, it could
very well have been that Lee wins the
argument and she doesn't sing the song.
Can you imagine that?

SINATRA: He said that somewhere in the
press [that he told Sinatra to “sing like

These Boots Are Made
For Walkin’

The Gity Never Sleeps
At Night

a 14-year-old girl who fucks truck
drivers"]. He never actually said

that to me. What he said to me was,
*You've been married and divorced
-behave likeit, sing like that. Don’t
sing like alittle girl any more.” It
made sense. We went into United
Western Recorders to do *Boots" and
“The City Never Sleeps At Night”,
which was one of Lee's favourites. He
wanted that to be the A-side. In the
studio with Lee and the Wrecking
Crew was the best place to bein the
whole world.

RANDI: Lee was a character, he was
who he was. Over the years, when he
had that LHI record company, I think
Idid over 100 albums for him. That's
alot of work! Western wasa great
studio. The room itself sounded
good. It was all mono, then it went

to four-track. I remember being in
that studio later when they went

to eight-track and [Wrecking Crew
guitarist] Tommy Tedesco saying,
“What are they going to do with all
those tracks?”

CHUCK BERGHOFER: The studio
console was just, like, four big black
knobs in those days.

SINATRA: There was this tangible
vibe in the room with [the Wrecking
Crew]. First of all, they were highly
professional. They were brilliant

musicians. They knew exactly what
was written on the sheet music,
they could all read – except for Glen
Campbell, he wasn’t a reader, but
he picked things up very fast, so he
was great also. I had some incredible
luck, I really did.

BERGHOFER: Working for Lee was
definitely easier than working with
Phil Spector, with a gun sitting next
tohim.

RANDI: Phil’s first job was actually
working for Lee Hazlewood. People
make comparisons constantly
between Lee and Brian Wilson and
Phil Spector - but they forget there
was a lot of other great producers,
like Jimmy Bowen, Dick Glasser,
David Axelrod. Lee was alittle
more outside — but those guys

all had a budget, whereas Brian
and Phil didn’t have budgets,

so they could do whatever they
wanted. Right around that time

[of “Boots”| everybody decided to
put our names on album covers

— before that nobody knew who
played - and that's how we all
started getting some credit. Then
that helped us get a lot more work

— “We got to get those guys..."
SINATRA: One of the key factors

of that track that I always carry
with me, in my head and my

wy

reprise Ны
А 0432 |2

\ \\!
`

heart, is that tape reverb technique
that [engineer] Eddie Brackett used
to use. The magic ofthat big tape
machine, those big reels going
round and round and round during
the whole session.

BERGHOFER: We got the thing in
about six takes or something.
RANDI:I don’t think it was more than
that. Because in those days we didn’t
overdub like they do now. Everything
was live. This is what you got.
BERGHOFER: That was probably
one of three dates I did that day.

It’s weird. Га go out in the morning,
start working and then by the time I
get through, it'd be dark out. Then I'd
go to Donte’s, the jazz club, to hang

3 TA, 27

“

"Don'tsinglike
alittlegirlany

АСУ)”

out there ’til four in the morning.
Boy, it paysto be young.
RANDI: Was Lee calling the shots
in the studio? It was pretty simple.
You know, we all were playing,
and it was Billy Strange playing the
rhythm part onit, too. Itwas simple.
Had it been more complicated, it
wouldn’t have happened. It had to
be ‘dumb’, as Nancy said. If you did
it any other way, it would have been
actually stupid, you know?
SINATRA: There were three guitar
players in a row in the studio that
day: Donnie Owens and Glen
Campbell and Al Casey. It was so
great. They played the heck out of
that thing and it was just fabulous.
That chunk, chunk-a chunk,
chunk-a-chunk... the dumb sound
that Lee just loved.
RANDE I was on the road with
Nancy for forever. The bass players
thatwe would have, they would
come close to Chuck's part, but it
never was what Chuck played. It
was very hard to play.
SINATRA: First ofall, you can't play
that line on an electric bass. They
all played electric.
BERGHOFER: This song is like
my whole life. Every bass solo I
ever play anywhere, I always put
“Boots” into it for a second. >

NOVEMBER 2021 -UNCUT- 69

PAULFERRARA

video, 1966

"I performed it in Vietnam (о
the Gls, it was like a theme
song there" NANCYSINATRA

RANDI: No matter what fantastic orchestra
Chuck's playing with, some symphonic
thing or some great jazz thing, at some
point, the guy – Michel Legrand or
whoever it is — is going to say, “Chuck, you
got to play that ‘Boots’ line one time...”
And he’s got to stop and play that line. I
love that! Then there’s the horn part that
Billy Strange wrote. Every horn player in
the world knows it, you don’t have to put
the music in front of them.

SINATRA: When we recorded in the
studio, we did the music first, which is not
unusual, so that they can get the mic’ing
right for all the different instruments, and
then we added the vocal with me alone

in the studio later so nothing fed into the
other mics. But when I heard the track to
“Boots” I said, “Release the track [as the
A-side], the track is a hit!” That quarter-
tone bassline, you always know what’s
coming. We used to call ita hook — you
have to havea hook in order to get songs
played on the radio, because if you can’t
grab an audience in the first 20 seconds
they’ve changed the station. So I just kept
pushing for “Boots” to be the A-side, as it's
just a perfect song. The only thing different
tothe demo was the final line, which was
something I just made up on the spot in
the studio. “Are you ready, boots? Start

1961 After signing toher
father Frank'slabel,
Reprise Records, Nancy
Sinatrareleasesher first
single, "Cuff Links And A
Tie Clip”. It fails to chart

70+UNCUT - NOVEMBER 2021

anywhere exceptltaly
1965 "SoLongBabe",
Sinatra's first

FACT FILE

Writtenby:Lee
Hazlewood
Personnelincludes:
Nancy Sinatra
(vocals), Don
Randi
(keyboards),
Chuck Berghofer
(double bass),
Richie Frost
(drums), Billy
Strange
(arranger, guitar)
by:Lee
Hazlewood
Recordedat:
United Western
Recorders,
Hollywood, CA
Released:
December 16,
1965
Chart peak: UK 1;
051

musical approach. This
timeit atleast charts in

Sae oor
walking". That was "enum
justout ofthe blue,
which is a good thing, because it'sthe only
thing that Lee hadn't copyrighted, which
meant! could use it wherever I wanted to.
BERGHOFER: I can’t think ofa hit that's
gone longer than this one.

RANDI: What’s amazing to meis that every
singer would love to have this song that
Nancy had, to have a signature song. That
is soimportant. I remember Nancy saying
one time, “I’m sick of doing this song.” I
mean, we had done it thousands of times,
you can’t blame her. “I don’t want to doit
tonight.” I said, “If you don’t do the song,
I'm going home now” [laughs].

SINATRA: I’ve been very fortunate with
great songs. “Bang Bang”, “You Only Live
Twice”... My whole physical appearance
changed with “Boots”, everything
changed. That was because a friend

of mine named Amy Greene, who was
married to the great Marilyn Monroe
photographer Milton Greene, worked

for Glamour magazine. She was known

as the makeover editor. She took me by

the hand in New York to Mr Kenneth, a
very famous hair designer. And Kenneth
and Rosemary, his colourist, created this
nonsense [points to hair]. And little girls
everywhere tried to copy it. It just took

off - itwas newat the time,
right, unless you werea
natural blonde, which I was
not. And that black sparkly
dress in the video was
actually a sweater that just
barely covered important
items. Was my makeover

TIMELINE

(HX3865)

Рите іу
үт л

THESE BOOTS ARE MADE
FOR WALKIN'

single, "These Boots Are
MadeFor Walkin”, comes

collaboration with Lee
Hazlewood, introduces
her new singing style and

theUS, reaching86

out. In the following few

driven by Lee? I think it was just complete
cooperation. I was determined to bring
the miniskirt to the United States. Isaw
itin London, and I went to a designer
place called Mary Quant. She had the first
miniskirts, I guess. I brought them home
to California and I wore them all over the
place. People stared like, ‘Where’s her
dress?’ But it was time. Was I ever a bad
girl? No, I'm kind ofa boring mom.
RANDE It was the first women's rights song.
SINATRA: think Helen Reddy's “I Am
Woman” was the one that did that.
RANDI: Yeah, but the one with the sense
of humour that cut deeper was “These
Boots Are Made For Walkin”.
SINATRA: It was definitely more
À likeable [than “Ат Woman’).
Iremember one show we did,
Pat Boone was hosting it. When
Iwas walking off the side of the
stage, Pat was shaking his head
back and forth. I just looked and
said, “What’s the matter?” He
says, “Oh, why can’t Ihave a song
like that?” I performed it in Vietnam
to the Gls, it was like a theme song there.
They loved it - they sang along and came
upand danced with me. It was an amazing
experience. Tragic, though.
BERGHOFER: Frank Sinatra asked me
to go on tour with him in the '60s, and
Tommy Tedesco said, "If you take that job,
you can kiss studio work goodbye.” So I
didn’t take it then, and Tom was right. But
much later on in the ’90s I went on the road
with Frank and that was perfect then.
RANDI: Well, I stayed doing studio work
and went on the road with Miss Nancy
Sinatra. Because of Nancy, I got to see the
world. We went all over.
SINATRA: History has proven that it's a
perfect song. People love it. The kids love
it from the time they’re two years old and
they’re walking around the house. Each
new generation embraces it. I donated
theactual boots [I wore in the video] to
charity decades ago. I did turn a pair of
boots into wall lamps, I still have those.
RANDI: When we'd go on tour, we'd
getto places like London and all the
musicians wanted to know how we did
it. AndIalways found that so interesting,
because you don't think ofthat when
you're recording. You're thinking, ‘This is
the way everyone does it.’ But it wasn't.
We were very lucky to be able to have the
good equipment and the
good artists to work with.
SINATRA: And weall
had much better hairin
those days. ©

Bootsisreissued by Light In
The Attic onSeptember 17

Sinatra's debut album,
producedby Lee
Hazlewood and featuring

December 1965 Along months it will hit No Lin three of hissongs,
witha Swinging 605 charts around the world including the (almost)
image overhaul, her next March1966 Boots, title track, isreleased

ARCHITECTURE plus special guests У
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SHANNON LAY

TANGERINE

DRE

ЕҢ

For SHANNON LAY, the quiet life has been a long-cherished pursuit. From her
beginnings in LA's punk scene, via jobs in weed dispensaries and her association
with Ty Segall, she's reached the nexus between British folk-rock, spiritual jazz
and indie. “It was really fun to not hold back,” she tells Erin Osmon

TANDING in Shannon Lay's
backyard in Pasadena - an
upmarket community northeast
ofLos Angeles known for grand
homes, lush gardens and the
annual Rose Parade famously
name-checked by Elliott Smith —
thereis a sense of spiritual ease. “There’s а
certain kind of warmth coming off ofit,” Lay says,
pointing to a giant oak tree, which she estimates
to be over 200 years old, whose branches envelop
the space like a hug. Before she lived here, the
area was a refuge from city life. “I lived in Echo
Park and Frogtown for a long time,” she says.
“And in that situation, you either go to the Guitar
Center in Hollywood or the Guitar Center in
Pasadena, and I always went to Pasadena
because Hollywood can be really hectic.”

Her small Spanish-style backhouse is decorated
with string lights, vintage furniture and other
on-trend bohemia, like many homes in Southern
California. But for a young, hard-touring, full-
time musician like Lay such anchored domesticity
can be novel. Living by herselfin a standalone
rental she secured on her own is a first. “All the
other places were from friends saying, ‘Take this
random room,” she says. “This has everything I
need. And I feel this trust developing with life that
we're taken care of, thatifthings are supposed to
beacertain way it's gonna work out. I'm slowly
learning that worry is optionala lot ofthe time."

Layis just 30 years old, but she’s been gigging in
theLos Angeles indie music scene for more than
a decade. A veteran of boisterous art-punk and
garage-rock bands, by 2016 she was exploring a
softer side of music, playing tender and

72-UNCUT- NOVEMBER2021

Photoby KAI MACKNIGHT

introspective folks songs on acoustic and electric
guitar. She’s a skilled player, but it was her
gorgeous, gossamer voice that drew the attention
of Kevin Morby, Ty Segall, Steve Gunn and many
others who she’d go on to record and tour with.
She produced her latest album, Geist, with
Jarvis Taveniere (Waxahatchee, Whitney, Purple
Mountains). Its quiet assurance reads likea
master statement, the work of awoman who’s
finally found her footing in the world. “A lot of the
identities and beliefs I had about myself were

"BELIEFS IHAD
ABOUT MYSELF

WERE
CRUMBLING"
SHANNON LAY

album where the earthen and the celestial meet
inaseamless embrace, much like her beloved
houseplants and astrological ponderings. “It’s
very lush and arranged while also being very
intimate,” says Ty Segall. “She’s got sucha great
and unique voice.”

Like many good things, it began with a nylon-
string guitar. Lay bought the 1998 Cordoba on
a whim from eBay and began playing it and
recording at home with GarageBand. Soon,
songs appeared. "It became this umbrella; all
thesethings started to unfold from it," Lay says
of “Rare To Wake", the album's opening track.
She'dalready written halfan album and recruited
aband to play on it. But something in her bones
told her she needed to chase this new, gentler
direction. *It just kind oftransformed into this
really quiet moment; it was much more solitary
than I’d imagined," she says.

AY grew up loving punk rock, and her road
toaquietlife and making quiet music was
Along and winding. Raised in Redondo

crumbling; everything was shattering,” she says
ofits making. “It was а tower moment, in tarot.
But the best thing about those moments is that
you can rebuild in a way that’s more sustainable
and maybe more beneficial.” Its creation marked
aturning pointin a long period of self-reflection,
self work and healing from childhood trauma.

“T began this process of therapy and trying to
drop into my body a bit more,” she explains. “Be
alittle more present, be very honest with myself
and not be afraid to explore the things that were
hard to look at.” The result is a velveteen folk-rock

Beach, asuburban region of LA’s South Bay, she
began taking guitar lessons at a local music store
and schoolat age 13. “I’d stopped playing soccer,
so I needed somewhere to put my wiggles,” she
says with a laugh. She sang a lot as a kid, “to an
annoying degree”, but didn't recognise her innate
gift and distinctive sound - as if Sandy Denny,
Vashti Bunyan and Sibylle Baier fused and then
reincarnated in a modern American form - until
she got her first laptop computer two years later.
Armed with GarageBand for the first time,
15-year-old Lay began exploring different vocal
techniques. She taught herselfto sing »

2 ShannonLay:inher
2020 goalslistshe
wrote, “Makea

— beautifulrecord"

NOVEMBER2021 -UNCUT -73

DENÉESEGALL

т.

ет
Cladallover:Lay

'in2019,twoyears F

afterherlongstint 2 a р ES : М 2 4 ©, P
inavintagestore [rig PRI TEE, Tah "АЭ 2 ЕЕ, 2 с

harmony, recording her efforts and playing them back - Е mechanism than а way of life these days. She soon

to practice. Like so many young women іп the '90s, the e. А joined her first band, Facts On File, whom she found
Spice Girls were the first act that memorably grabbed on Craigslist. Then she climbed aboard the art-punk
her attention. “To this day that record just lights me sextet Raw Geronimo, fronted by Laena Geronimo,
up,” she says. Indeed for someone who so often daughter of Devo drummer Alan Myers. By 2009,
channels the mystic spirit of a departed folk singer, when she was 19, Lay was a fixture behind the counter
her formative influences are surprising. “I remember atSquaresville, a hip vintage clothing store in the Los
discovering Bjork and the doors just blew off the Feliz neighbourhood of Los Angeles.

house," shesays. LA punk band X, and their Lay stayed at the shop until 2017, essentially growing
“amazing harmonies”, also wowed Lay, with their up and finding herself amid its racks of historical
innovative take on the form. Soon, she was regularly wares. The trope ofthe cranky record store clerk is by
driving north to the city to hit the bins at Amoeba now well documented, and the same can be said of the
Music in Hollywood and catch all-ages shows at cool woman at the vintage store who buys from the
famed Los Angeles DIY club The Smell. public. American television shows like Broad City

Surrounded by beaches, skate culture anda have parodied the crushing defeat of having your
newfound love of music, Lay’s childhood may seem clothes rejected by such gatekeepers, but Lay insists
something ofa Southern California dream. But these she never played into that mean girl stereotype,
pleasures didn’t negate a difficult home life. When she instead choosing to kill people with kindness. “It can
was five, Lay’s mother was diagnosed with bipolar be kind of touchy,” she admits. “Even today, when I try
disorder. “I felt incredibly responsible for her emotions to sell my stuff and they don’t want something, I’m just
and quickly dismissed mine,” she said. “When she kind of like, ‘WHY?’ But I know it’s not personal.”
was diagnosed, she had just lost her mom and she was
grieving. I don’t think she got the attention she HEN Raw Geronimo eventually morphed
needed. I don’t think people wanted to give her the into Feels, Lay stayed the course. The
time of day. So they gave her a prescription and sent garage-punk quartet known for its wild,
heroutthe door." Amid the changes, Lay was forced to 9 H Д N N | М | М high-energy live shows released a handful of records
grow up quickly. “Ilearned that expressing myself on LA punk labels like Castle Face and Lollipop and

Wichita in the UK. During her five years in the band,
Lay became known for her skilled lead guitar playing and
distinctive, feather-light vocals, which feature most
prominently on the band’s most polished album, 2019’s
Post Earth. Her increasingly intricate sound provided a
marked contrast to the thrashing and aggressive legacy of
the group. And in 2020 she quit to focus on her solo career.

didn't benefit me at all,” she explains. “It became this
process of convincing myself that I wasn't feeling what
Iwasfeeling and to just keep my head above water and
pretend like everything's happy, happy, happy."

Aged 17, she left Redondo for good, moved to a low-rent
apartment in Hollywood and took a job in downtown LA at
a weed dispensary, which she recalls fondly as “one of the
most fun jobs I've ever had". “Tt was the best; it was traveling with three of my best

“T met every kind of person, and made everyone really friends,” Lay says. “Ilearned alot and loved thrashing

happy,” she enthuses, her positivity less a coping With gerendi b around on stage. It was the most fun.” It also marked the
“three of my best
74-UNCUT -NOVEMBER 2021 friends’ 2020

first time Lay recorded and released
songs she'd written, albeit as a
group, and toured in Britain and
Europe, playing festivals and
packed clubs.

Atthe same time, she began
exploring her quieter side, playing
low-stakes solo gigs at various
east side haunts. Kevin Morby
wandered into the Griffin, a
bygone bar in Atwater Village, one night in 2016 when
Lay was on stage. He was familiar with her as a
guitarist in Feels, but had never imagined her in this
hushed mode. “She had this voice ofan angel,” he
says. “Ijust felt like I was witnessing someone who
had all the goods. She could play guitar. She could
sing. She had written all of these
amazing songs. She just felt like
the complete package.”

So he offered her a record deal.
Morby had just started Mare, his
imprint of the independent
Woodsist label, and believed
Lay should be its debut artist.
“My whole thing with putting
out records is that I only want
to doitifI’m like, jaw dropped,
‘How have people not
discovered this?" he says.
“With Shannon, I wanted to

KEVIN MORBY

prone to go the extra mile. Lay
remembers a festival where a fan
showed up and tracked her down
after her set. The woman had missed
Lay's performance but wanted to
share her deep personal connection
to the song “The Moons Detriment".
“She said it helped get her through her
divorce,” Lay recalls. Instead ofa
pleasant conversation and a goodbye,
Lay pulled the woman aside in a small area of the
grounds and performed the song to an audience of
one. “It was such a cool way to have a direct interaction
with someone, because I don’t always see how people
are reacting to my music,” she says. “The fact that
what I’m making means something to someone is the
coolest thing in the world.”
Morby also took Lay out on her
first big solo tour, as his opening
act. He says that while Lay's
voice and perspective is
unequivocally ethereal and
introspective, her personality is
deeply down to earth and often
hilarious. She doesn't take
herselftoo seriously, which is
obvious when it comes to some
of the things she loves most. In
this conversation, Lay quotes
the reality show RuPaul’s Drag

Kevin
Morby:
"Shehad
thisvoiceof
anangel”

help people understand how
amazing sheis.”

She released Living Water, her solo debut, in the
autumn of 2017. A divine, low-fi affair produced by
Emmett Kelly (The Cairo Gang, Bonnie “Prince” Billy),
itwas met by positive reviews and much love on Spotify
playlists. Its ninth track, “Recording 15", a finger-
picked acoustic guitar number that highlights her
seraphic voice, has amassed nearly 50 million plays on
the platform and remains Lay's most popular song.
Over the years fans have reached, sharing stories of
heartbreak and hardship that they've navigated along
with its words. *People have said it conjures death and
all these heavy themes but creates a safe feeling for
them in thinking about that stuff,” she explains.

This dynamic - one’s art as a life jacket for others —
may be too much pressure for some, but Lay
“absolutely loves it". She enjoys it so much that she's

Onstage with

TySegall,

October 2019
=

-

Race. “You already got the job,"
she says, referring to her internal
pep talks amid stints of self-doubt. And while on tour
with Morby, she brought the entire Simpsons
catalogue on DVD to play in their rented Sprinter. “It
opened up my eyes to what an amazing showitis, and
the depth of that show,” he says. “Something about
her love of The Simpsons fully sums her up. She’s kind
of like Bart and Lisa combined.”

“She has sucha great outlook and perspective on
things,” says Ty Segall. The pair met through the LA
scene, when Lay was playing in Feels and also gigging
soloin and around the city. She was a fan of Segall’s
music before they became friends and was more than
amenable when he began tapping her as his opening
act a few years ago. “It was a really cool experience
because it required me to learn how to mentally lasso
acrowd,” Lay says. “Those people werenotready >

GUI

DE

SHANNON
LAY

SHANNON
LAY

SHANNON
LAY

SHAN
LAYA

GUN

N

оо

DENÉESEGALL

SHANNON LAY

for what I was bringing to the table. They were ready

to ROCK.” But Segall believed that her singular voice
inastripped-down mode could silence a rowdy crowd.
“She’s one of those people where just her voice anda
guitar is so powerful,” he says.

The pair became so close that Lay asked Segall to
record and produce her third solo album, August,
released in summer of 2019. “I’ve recorded a lot of
people over the years,” he says, “and that record is the
only time it's been one person in a room with two mics,
one on the guitar and one of the vocals, live. She’s the
only person I’ve recorded who can do that. She has
such arare talent.” The album marked her debut for
the Sub Pop label, but it also memorialised a perhaps
more crucial milestone: life as a full-time musician.
She named the album for the month, in 2017, when
she quit the vintage store for good, after Kevin Morby
asked her to go out on tour. “When I was working at
Squaresville I was broke all the time; every month I got
an email saying my account had less than $25,” she
says. “The minute I let go of that, this routine, this
narrative, so much opened up for me."

ODAY, sitting in her tidy green kitchen with

slices of watermelon and bottles of the Mexican

mineral water Topo Chico, Lay is grateful for all
of her life's fortuitous turns and challenging teaching
moments. Like walking away from her day job and self-
critical tendencies, and moving into her own place,
Lay's new album has provided an outlet for personal
and professional reinvention - the chance to dwell in
aspace thatis uniquely reflective of her in the present
moment. “At the beginning of the year I like to write a
very broad goals list,” she says. “And I recently looked
at the one from 2020, апа Га written, ‘Make a beautiful
record.’ I used that adjective ‘beautiful’ specifically.”

She remembers feeling somewhat resistant to the

idea at first. “You sort of learn to dismiss your
femininity, especially when you're working in a male
dominated field," she says. But it didn't takelong for
hertorealise that she needed a quieter, more ethereal
sound, one that reflects her current station in life. She
recorded all ofthe demos at home by herself, with no
input from outside voices. “I just fell in love with the
demos, honestly, and was sort of hesitant to re-record
them,” she says. “But then when I did it became so
much more than I ever thought it could be. It was really
fun to not hold back, to make it as rich as I wanted it to
be. I wanted it to be really nice on the ears.”

76-UNCUT- NOVEMBER 2021

SIBYLLE
BAIER

CHAKRA SOUNDS

| BJORK

Ty Segall:
producer

to"arare
talent”

To achieve its soothing,
cloud-like quality, Lay
enlisted a few trusted
collaborators. She met
keyboardist Ben Boye
through Segall and playing
in his Freedom Band. A
veteran of the Chicago free-

jazz and experimental music
scenes, Lay credits Boye as
the “dimension revealer" on Geist, someone whose
talent and vibe was essential to the end result. *He
cracked it wide open and created these aspects that
Icouldn't havein my wildest dreams imagined," she
says. Lay wanted upright bassist Devon Hoff, who she
befriended during the making of her first album, for
his crossover appeal (*He's a punk who loves jazz,"
she says) but also for the organic nature of the
instrument and the way it compliments her nylon-
string guitar throughout. Keyboardist Sofia Arreguin
has toured with Lay and appeared on her 2020 album
Live At Zebulon.

Though there is no crashing percussion or overtly
searing moment on Geist, Lay invited Segall to
contribute the album's sole electric guitar moment,
near the end of "Shores", the album's fourth track.
*Shehit me up and said she had an idea for a loud,
fuzzy kind of guitar, something melodic but kind of
nasty," he recalls. So he did seven or eight takes and
sent them back to her. “She ended up stacking them on
top of one another, which wasn't intended but I think
is really cool,” he recalls. Lay uses the same effect on
her harmony vocals, a rich, textural throughline that
sets Geist apart from Lay’s previous works.

Lay says she gave each player about a week with the
songs, to ideate and execute their parts. “I thought
that was unique because in the studio you might have
someone for a day or two, but in this instance they
could sit with the songs and dream," she says. Geist's
10 songs float in a space between British folk-rock,
spiritual jazz and indie-rock, an album whose
deceptively complex arrangements are feather-light
and allow enough space for Lay's supernal voice to
shine. This is particularly true of “Awaken And
Allow”, where Lay sings a capella until the two-minute
mark, evoking an undeniable Celtic sound, though
she says she’s unfamiliar with Irish folk music. She is
quick to point out that the Emerald Isle lives inside of
her, like a mystical undercurrent. “Га love to spend a
month doing some kind of residency there, because
that's where my family is from,” she explains.

Lay is even scheduled to meet with a woman about
a Celtic harp the weekend of this interview. Her
successful union with the nylon-string guitar has
inspired her to try out an array of stringed
instruments. “I just want to sit with it and see how it
feels,” she says, admitting that it doesn’t always work
out. “The other day I sat with a cello and was like, ‘Oh
this is too cumbersome. I don’t think I can handle it.”

So what does Lay do when she’s not test-driving
instruments? “I love to bowl,” she says with earnest
enthusiasm. “I have my own ball and my own shoes.”
Her favourite alley is Golden Mile Bowling in
Alhambra, a family oflanes with vintage charm.
“Bowling is such a beautiful metaphor for life,” she
says. “Sometimes you throw that ball and it looks
perfect and the pins explode. You have to just honour
it because it doesn’t make a lick of sense." Like hurling
anew album into the world. “Totally,” she says. ©

Geist is released by Sub Pop on October 8

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October 2021

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FIND US ON fY OOS

TIMBUGBEE

Album by album

Ethan
Miller

Psych freakouts and classic boogie with

Comets On Fire, Howlin Rain and more...

THAN Miller has come full circle. After 20 years living in
Oakland, he and his wife recently bought a farmhousein
Humboldt County in the far north of California, close to where he
grew up alongside some of his future Comets On Fire bandmates.
"There's a saying about this place,” he confides. “They say it's
‘behind the redwood curtain’. It means that you can get lost up here."
Millerlaughs heartily when reminded that he's about to enter his third
decade as a recording artist. *Making it that long in indie music is like 10
lifetimes!" hereckons - and in his case, that's not such an exaggeration.
A member ofat least five different outfits down the years, even his ongoing
journey at the helm of Howlin Rain has been a particularly bumpy ride, with
Miller regularly forced to recruit an entire new band. However, you sense
that he relishes the turbulence, which feeds back into his music - always
motoring, often at full tilt, navigating vibrant American backwaters with an
infectious lust for life. "There's a regeneration every couple of albums and
hencea new aesthetic, a new flesh and blood,” he explains. “I try to carry the
boneson from body to body to keep that original flame alive." SAMRICHARDS

COMETS ONFIRE
COMETS ONFIRE

SELF-RELEASED, 2001.

Ben Flashman
[bass] and I
were playing in
another group
andit was

ЕТТТ
getting alittle

LT T
wibbly-wobbly.

I wanted to make a radical reaction
tothat particular musical
predicament, so I said to Ben, "Let's
do alittle project where we just blast
this thing out — make it really fast
andalittle bit emotionally violent as
anexorcism ofthis thing that's
bugging us." We grabbed Chris
Gonzales [drums] and went into this
garage we were renting as a practice
space in Santa Cruz. We basically
put the four-track up and blasted
through those songs pretty much
first or second take, it just magically
came together.

We had one track left for the vocals
andIasked Noel Harmonson to help
me out. He brought the Echoplex in
and we started foolin’ with that. And
the minute he went bananas with
the Echoplex, we were like, *That's
it — this is the whole thing.” And
then of course instead of being just
alittle project, we were like, “Hey,
we gota band here!” It was the

78+UNCUT - NOVEMBER2021

immaculate conception. We

looked in the back of aMaximum
Rock’n’Roll’zine and found out how
to press 500 records. We sent it out to
some small distributors, most of
which never paid us. Then finally
Revolver in San Francisco came
along and took 50 copies and a week
later they came back and said, *Give
ustherest ofthe pressing."

From there we were set. Every new
band probably thinks they're the
greatest group on Earth, but to be
met with success establishes a
certain confidence and encourages
bold moves artistically. So we were
lucky to have that happen and it set
usona bold trajectory as a group.

HOWLINRAIN
HOWLINRAIN

BIRDMAN, 2006

Isentthe first
Howlin Rain
demos to
[drummer] John
Moloney in the
summer of

n 2004. Comets
was getting a little bit emotionally
intense - we'd been working really
hardsince 2001 and weall were
lookingto relieve some ofthat
tension and have somefreewheeling

7, |
CometsOnFire play... ї
theMiddleEastClub, ^ Y"
Cambridge,MA, ea"
September 2006 2“ |

“

experiences with other musicians
and whatnot. I wanted to reset my
creativity and not put all of my
desires and demands on those four
other guys. We probably weren't
gonna bring in breezy '70s AM pop-
gold rock to Comets On Fire, and I
love that stuff. So I wanted to create
aspace to do that with Howlin Rain.

Comets was a democracy - we
made all the decisions together, and
there were certainly aspects of that
where things could move really
slowly. Sometimes it felt like for
everybody to agree on something
we brought it down to the lowest
common denominator instead of
entertaining a really wild idea. Sol
wanted to put a different blueprint
together where I was kinda the
bandleader; I would write the
material and the band would try to
endowit with their own spirit.

John was the bandleader in
Sunburned Hand Of The Man and
I think he liked the idea of being a
creative foil but not having to do the
heavy lifting on the conceptual end.
And Ian [Gradek, bass/banjo] was
my next-door neighbour in Santa
Cruz and longtime dear friend, so
we hada very deep connection. He
also came from Humboldt, and that
first album is very much a Humboldt
County sound. We're very remote up
here, we'reinto the deep wilds of
California where the old-growth
redwoods hit the ocean. And that

first album reflected some of those
feelings, both human and natural.

COMETS ONFIRE
AVATAR
Because
Comets had got

toa place where
we'd been
M rehearsing
© З Avatarfora

жи "S year, the
tracking was fairly embittered
and difficult — it wasn't that
spontaneous, explosive process
any more. ButIthinkthe album
cameout having a deeper emotional
complexity because ofthat stuff. It
was something ofa triumph, but
adestroyer for us also. We were
coming toa place where it was
gonna be hard for the band to
continue if we couldn't find a more
unified place for ourselves, and that
album ended up containing all
those mixed emotions.

At the time, I'd rather it were easier
todo, but now! wouldn't change the
record -I thinkit’s beautiful asa
statement. No band lasts in that
perfect union forever. We tracked
the entire album instrumentally
before I wrote the lyrics, so for
something like “Dogwood Rust”

you do get the overview of exactly
where the band is standing in that
moment, in an abstract poetic way.

Nobody ever said, “Fuckit, the
group’s over!” or “I quit!” or
anything like that, but it became
hard to decide on anything and
you end up without movement.
We'd burned ourselves out a little
bit and it was a natural moment to
set it down. We did those reunion
shows for the final ATP in 2013 and
it was great — all our chemistry
was still there. But the momentum
faded again.

HOWLINRAIN
MAGNIFICENT FIEND

BIRDMAN, 2008

John went

back to focus
on Sunburned,
solanandI
began setting
up anew group
for Howlin Rain
based in the Bay Area. I wanted to
sidestep my own anticipation of
what it might be, and keep shedding
new skin creatively. And in finding
Joel Robinow, who became my
creative partner for the next five
years, that definitely inspired

anew way of looking at my own
writing. You can hear instantly

that Magnificent Fiend
has a different feel; Joel’s
personality and performance
is stamped so large on that
record. I could almost
standin the control room
and benevolently steer

from afar, and that was

really rewarding.

We both had the
commonality of’70s rock
and folk, but Joel was also
a huge fan of jazz and jazz-
fusion. I came from a place of
being able to make a song
out of three chords, but Joel
came froma place of musical
complexity - he was more likely to
reference the voicings and
arrangements of Burt Bacharach
than Lou Reed. That was very
interesting and challenging tome
and I’ve never forgotten those ways.
Joel’s a musical fountain and just
being around him creates a lot of
run-off for the people in his vicinity.

БЕШЕНЕНЕ
^Rick Rubin
went deep into
the mechanics
ofsongwriting
with me”

Howlin Rain
The Russian Wilds

HOWLIN
RAIN
THERUSSIAN WILDS

BIRDMAN/AMERICANRECORDINGS, 2012

Just before we went to track
Magnificent Fiend, I gota call from
Rick Rubin, who said he wanted to
sign Howlin Rain to American
[Recordings]. Rick was having this
king-of-the-world moment where he
wason the cover of Life magazine.
Suddenly every lawyer, every
booking agent, every yadayadayada
wants to work with you – and most
ofthem probably don't know
whether you're good or not, they
just know that Rick Rubin thinks

UNCUT
CLASSIC

2 СІНооКуеагвіо
таке": (1-г) Cyrus
Ojo Ethan Mi ^
ja, EthanMiller we д
апа JoelRobinow We
in2010, recording ;
TheRussian Wilds

that you are! So that was а lot
of change for us, and a big
pressure for me. Comets was
very insular, we held on to
our own steering wheel
extremely tightly. When
you're navigating that major-
label world, you're trying to
help these people run a bigger
ship and all that was alittle
overwhelming.
To Rick’s credit, he never
said: “You have to write a hit
song.” He went deep into
the mechanics of the
songwriting with me, and
that was a lot of fun. But I was
kinda left to my own devices as
to what kind of ambition should
be executed. In the end, The
Russian Wilds is this interesting
mutant album that’s too big and
ambitious for your typical indie
record and too weird and
convoluted to be a hit major-label
rock record. But I’m proud ofit.
Getting tangled up in Rick’s
scheduling meant that the pre-
production went on forever. It took
years to make and it didn't have to.
Masterpieces can be made in one
session. I don’t wanna move that
slow again - I'm not Stanley
Kubrick! We had alot of fun in the
studio and we were really proud of
what we'd done, but there was
nothing very happy [about the rest of
the process]. Ithinkit'sasingular >

FITZ

NOVEMBER2021 -UNCUT : 79

RAENIMILLER

2015:(I-r)Meg
Baird, Charlie
Saufley, Ethan
Miller, Noel Van
Harmonson

and interesting record and a lot of
fans still love it the best, but it puta
strain on everybody in the group.
Joel, Raj [Ohja, drums] and Isaiah
[Mitchell, guitar], they all left [after
the subsequent tour] – and I don't
blame them. They wanted for the
record to make a huge splash and for
us to really climb the ladder. But
there’s no overnight success.

MANSION SONGS

EASY SOUND, 2015
Chewedupand spat out by the
major-label machine, Miller parks
the good-time choogle for analbum
ofraw, wintryreflection
I found myself
li without a band
and without a
label - it’s just
me, my guitar
and my
notepad, about
to get some hustling going. We were
forming Heron Oblivion at that time,
solasked them if they’d come in and
be my backing band and we’d make
avery improvised album. Some of
those songs are literally the first
time they’d ever played them. I said,
“Неге” the key, ГЇЇ give you a couple
of handsignals," but otherwise it’s
areally improvised take. I wanted
to make a Polaroid snapshot of the
moment of invention, in complete
opposition to The Russian Wilds.
There's a deep level ofintimacy
on there; a vulnerable quality. I
sang very close to the mic, Isang
quieter. After all the bravado ofthe
former two records, I just wanted to
explore a different dynamic. It was
partly an attempt to expand my
emotionalrange in storytelling too.
When it came out, I think alot of
Russian Wilds fans probably
thought, “Ah, this is not whatT
signed on for —I want to hear big
AM 70s rock!” But one of every six
or seven fans was like, “This is the
best thing you’ve ever done, I totally
get it.” It’s our version of Neil
Young’s Trans or whatever.

80- UNCUT- NOVEMBER 2021

HERON OBLIVION

SUBPOP, 2016

Sole album -sofar -fromthepsych-
folk supergroup, featuringmembers
of Comets On Fire, Espers and
Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound
Noel [Von
Harmonson]
andIhad this
improv unit
called Wicked
Mace, and
when friends
would come to town on tour we’d do
ajam with them. Meg [Baird] moved
out to San Francisco to be with her
boyfriend Charlie [Saufley], who's
an old friend of ours, so we thought
it would be fun to get those two
together for a Wicked Mace thing.
We went to Charlie’s rehearsal space
and the jams were just coming so
fast and furious and so intense and
fully formed... Itimmediately had its
own personality anda couple hours
later we had all these recordings. It
was so amazing to us, we were like,
“This has got to bea band.”

That whole record was so fucking
easy, I don’t remember us labouring
over very much of anything. We kept
the music simple and let the vibes
speakfor themselves.

We have recorded another record
and it’s almost finished, but we've
been [finishing it] for a long time.
Covid found us estranged from each
other geographically and in the
meantime we lost our rehearsal
space, and as a result the band has
been put on hold. But thereisa
record that just needs to be mixed

Eminence
grise: Miller
in2021 7

and wrangled and the last few
elements done to it, soI guess
we're looking for unification
and motivation.

THE ALLIGATOR BRIDE

SILVER CURRENT, 2018

Another newlineup relights the fire
as the alligator reveals himself...

My manager
played music
with Jeff
[McElroy, bass]
and Dan
[Cervantes,
guitar]ina
former life and he sent them over to
asession in Los Angeles for Mansion
Songs. They came out so good and
pro that I set them aside to keep the
Mansion Songs vision in that raw
space. By the time The Alligator
Bride rolled around, I really wanted
to take those guys off the leash. I
wanted it to sound like you’re
hearing the band blasting out live,
standing 10 feet in front of you. AndI
think we accomplished that – it feels
likea pretty explosive experience.

On the title track Iwas trying to
encapsulate the way that American
history, present and future get
sucked into this fuckin’ vortex and it
never clarifies for us. Our interaction
with linear time has broken and
slipped. Our country rewrites
history so drastically to suit the
winner that we basically liveina
psychic timewarp.

This was when Obama was still
president, which just goes to show
that the US was not perfect before
Trump took office. I felt like these
things were already happening, so
I tried to write a poetic little song
about that — one that was still
endowed with the suggestion of
celebration and romance. But I didn't
know exactly what or who wasat the
centre of “The Alligator Bride”. We
recorded that song on the night of
the [2016] election and came out and
sat on the couch. Justin [Smith,
drummer] had his phone and said,

owlinĝRaj
Жаба

ride

*You're not gonna believe this but it's
looking real bad - I think Trump's
taken this thing." Sometimes you
writea song and you're not sure what
it'sabout, then it finds its meaning
and it’s almost a supernatural thing,
like you’d predicted it.

THEDHARMA WHEEL

SILVER CURRENT, 2021
Miller's latest is alavish, conceptual
affair, featuring Bob Dylan's violinist
Scarlet Rivera
Mansion Songs
was a snapshot
offloating
ideas, The
Alligator Bride
istheband
forming, and
then The Dharma Wheelis fully
coming back toa place that's as
sophisticated and rehearsed as
The Russian Wilds. We knew what
we wanted to say and were able to
fluidly write and arrange things
ina very idiosyncratic way that
nobody else might think was very
sensible. We chose the songs, we
boiled them down, we rehearsed
them and we took them out on tour.
If we had a day off, I'd book studio
time – we'd get offstage at 3am and
by noon we were recording that
same song. It was one of the most
pleasurable records I’ve ever made.
I like the idea of the dharma
wheel, in science-fiction terms, as
being a portal. I wanted it to be like
you drop the needle on the record
and you go into this world that we’ve
created. Many of the concerns of the
outside world are still there, but it’s
also alittle fantastic or ultra-vivid —
extra joyful or extra melancholy.
The Dharma Wheel was going to be
this two-hour-long record, witha
whole grandiose concept. We’d
finished the first two-fifths of it, but
when Covid hit I realised it was
going to be too complicated to pull
off. So I tooka listen to what we'd
finished and said, “You know what,
this'll still make a beautiful single
record." I’ll try to release the other
part ofitin future. ©

The Dharma Wheelis out on
October 8 via Silver Current

THE SPECIALS "OUR PROTEST Н EP SIOUXSIE: B ere REBORN n

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МЕМЕР МІЅ5 АМ№ІЅ50Е 21 ТІПТ
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EVERY MONTH

DirectDebit offeris available to UK subscribers only.£22.99 payable by six monthly Direct Debit. Offer ends December 31,2021.
This priceis guaranteed for the first 12 months and we willnotify youin advance of any price changes. Please allow up to six weeks for delivery of your first subscriptionissue.
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FINCOSTELLO/REDFERNS

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES

In 1979, SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES came back from the dead.
Abandoned mid-tour by disgruntled band members, they recruited innovative
drummer Budgie and virtuoso guitarist John McGeoch - and recorded a trio
of classic albums, including their 1981 masterpiece, Juju. But at what price?
“We pushed ourselves beyond the realms of safety,” learns Michael Bonner

EPTEMBER7, 1979:
Aberdeen’s Capitol Theatre
is hosting a Friday-night
concert by Siouxsie & The
Banshees, who are just a few
days into a tour supporting
their new album, Join Hands.
Rumours are rife that John
McKay and Kenny Morris - the Banshees’
guitarist and drummer - have quit earlier that
day, following a bust-up during a signing session
at the city’s The Other Record Shop. When the
Capitol Theatre opens its doors and the bar fills
up, punters wonder whether the headliners will
even appear. As the evening progresses, the signs
aren’t good. The Cure, support band on the tour,
play an extended set. Eventually, Siouxsie – іп
murderous mood - takes to the stage to address
the crowd. The bouncers at the Capitol brace
themselves for a riot.

Instead, after explaining what has happened to
McKay and Morris, Siouxsie and bassist Steven
Severin join The Cure for a 20-minute version of
“The Lord’s Prayer", complete with squealing
feedback and Sioux wailing away.

When news broke that McKay and Morris had
left the band, it was not the first seismic event to
happen to the Banshees that month. They had
started unravelling even before the tour began.
McKay was dissatisfied with the production of Join
Hands. A dawn photo shoot at Camber Sands
ended acrimoniously. Just two days before
Aberdeen, ashowin Belfast was heavily delayed
when the band’s equipment failed to turn up at the
city’s Ulster Hall, leaving groups of angry, tired
and bored fans to be dispersed by the RUC.

Meanwhile, as the final chords of “The Lord’s
Prayer” ring out in the Capitol Theatre, a

82-UNCUT-NOVEMBER2021

Photoby FIN COSTELLO

watershed has been reached. While less stubborn
bands may have thrown in the towel, the bruised
and bloodied Banshees turned adversity into an
opportunity. But single-minded determination
has always been a critical part of the band’s
arsenal. “Siouxsie and Severin were very much
carved out on their own ledge somewhat, looking
down on everybody,” laughs the band’s long-
serving drummer, Budgie.

In the aftermath of the Aberdeen show, the first
of many mercurial transformations takes place.
Travelling far beyond the jagged energy of their

BUDGIE

early recordings, a new lineup of Siouxsie & The
Banshees presided over a peerless run of albums
during the early ’80s – Kaleidoscope, Juju and A
Kiss In The Dreamhouse. Together, they constitute
the Banshees’ first imperial phase — a trio of
richly atmospheric albums underpinned by the
fluid explorations of new guitarist John McGeoch.
“They were already a really good group, but
there's a confidence and a clarity of vision that
came together when John McGeogh joined,” says
Johnny Marr. “The Banshees were always going
to have an imperial phase, and Juju is their
masterpiece. Cinematic, mysterious, esoteric,

sexiness - they’re all in that record andallin

that group. It's in the song titles, in the way they
presented themselves and the way Siouxsie led
the group. They were a big band doing something
very interesting and — really importantly – on
their own terms. They couldn’t be ignored.”

Y 1979, Siouxsie & The Banshees’ position

В as outsiders was already well established.

= Born Susan Ballion, Siouxsie was raised
in Chislehurst, Kent – a place she once described
to Uncut as *knee-deep in wankers". Even as a
child, she felt isolated. At nine, she and a friend
were sexually abused by a stranger. Her father,
analcoholic, died when she was 14. At 15, while
recuperating from surgery for ulcerative colitis —
agrim procedure that required part of her small
intestine to be exposed through stitches in her
stomach for several weeks - she watched Bowie
perform “Starman” on Top Of The Pops and then,
thefollowing month, Roxy Music perform
“Virginia Plain". Inspired, Ballion began to
reinvent herself. Along with kindred spirit Steven
Bailey (later Severin) she began to plot an exit
strategy from the suburbs.

By spring 1976, Ballion had begun calling herself
SiouxsieSioux. A veteran of Bromley's notorious
Berlin's Baby Bondage Party and the Bill Grundy
show, she developeda gift for controversy even
before the Banshees were formed. “I didn't relish
or enjoy it," she told Uncut. “I realised quickly this
was ridiculous and that they were going to make it
what they wanted it to be — a cartoon. Punk was
over by’77 because the Bill Grundy thing killed it.
They got hold о itand made it a freakshow.”

Although Sioux and Severin had escaped the
suburbs, their music still lingered there. Early

ээ «є

songs like *Playground Twist", "Jigsaw »

the’80sdawn

FINCOSTELLO/REDFERNS

SIOUXSIE & THE BAN

“THEY WERE
ALREADY
AREALLY

GOOD
GROUP”

Kennedy Enterprises presents
in association with Dave Woods
Feeling” and “Suburban Relapse” focused on хаяа Каа *
unhappy childhoods, personality disorders and SIOUXSIE and the BANSHEES
emotional crisesin sleepy dormitory towns. But тне LI
the band's restless, creative energies also found Jenene i eee
unexpected chart success with their debut single, FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 7th
“Hong Kong Garden”. By the time they lost McKay Capital Theatre, Union Street.

and Morris, the Banshees had already taken
punk’s resourcefulness to some unexpected places.

A few days after the Aberdeen debacle, an
emergency meeting took place in a Camden pub. At
the recommendation of Paul Cook, Budgie – who
had just left The Slits – was invited to an audience
with Siouxsie and Severin. “They were drinking vodka and
orange and smoking Rothmans; I hada pint of bitter and
Old Holborn roll-ups,” Budgie says. “I thought, ‘These two
are operating at a different level to me!"

Singles
Hong Kong Carden, Staircase, Playground Twist
Album: The Scream

New album ‘Join Hands’ released on 7th Sept
pie pe e eii sare o at

Meet SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES

at the Other Record Shop, Union Street

at Anm. Friday 7th September

| E

А rehearsal was hastily arranged for the next day where 3
they were joined by Marco Pirroni - guitarist at the IN
Banshees' very first gig at the 100 Club. *Marco couldn't N & “~
stick around, so we started auditioning guitarists," Budgie “ : =

says. “If memory serves, The Cure were sitting in front of
us holding score cards up, like the judges at
Eurovision. You know: ‘Nul point!’ We had no
luck, no joy. The guitarists we tried were too
loud, too quiet or just wrong. I think that’s when
Severin had a conversation with Robert."
Smith, it transpires, had already expressed
his willingness to lend a hand. He wanted
thetour to continue - not just to help out the
Banshees, but also because these were the
biggest shows of The Cure's career to date. If the
tour were to fold now, they would be deprived
of valuable exposure. Given five days to learn
theset, Smith found himself playing 30
minutes with The Cure, then after a 15-minute
break he was back out with the Banshees.
When the Join Hands tour finished in October
1979 at Hammersmith Odeon, Smith returned

84- UNCUT- NOVEMBER 2021

Siouxsie ond the Banshees

Before the
abandonment:
(I-r) JohnMcKay,
Kenny Morris,
Steve Severinand
Siouxsie, 1979

to The Cure. With the search for a permanent guitarist
underway, Severin remembers seeing Magazine on
television and being struck by McGeoch's performance:
introductions were made shortly before Christmas by
SteveStrange, a mutual friend. With McGeoch nervous
about how best to present himself, Strange reportedly
advised him: “Just wear black, you'll be all right.”

“John McGeoch was already fantastic in Magazine,” says
Johnny Marr. “He had the technique and theory down
from the’7os. You must remember that lots of guitarists
were influenced by Mick Ronson or Bill Nelson or Eric
Clapton in Cream or Steve Howe - guitar playing
didn’t just happen the day after the Bill Grundy show.”

Ittranspired that McGeoch was willing to join the
Banshees - but insisted on fulfilling several
outstanding commitments for Magazine. He did,
however, join them for a low-key session early in the
new year at Polydor's studios that yielded a handful of
new songs including “Happy House" and “Christine”.

But with little choice but to wait for McGeoch to
formally cut his ties with Magazine, Siouxsie and
Severin decamped to a work room in the offices of their
publisher, Warner Chappell. Their
progress was fragmented - the album
they eventually released was titled
aleidoscope, essentially a description
oftheir working methods. Not for the
first time, Siouxsie and Severin had
made a virtue of necessity. By the time
they reached Nigel Gray’s Surrey Sound
Studios in Leatherhead, they had a brace
of songs, ifnot quite a fully formed plan.

Gray had been McGeoch's suggestion —
theguitarist had been impressed with his
production work for The Police. When he
first met the Banshees, Gray - a former GP
—was in full-on rock star mode, dressed

in brown leather trousers with blond

zasa

highlights in his hair. He seemed an unusual fit for
the band, but Gray encouraged their experiments
with drum machines, tape loops and synthesisers on
Kaleidoscope, letting them explore the more esoteric
equipment lying around the studio that belonged to
Gray's neighbours, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme.

The work at Surrey Sound fell into two groups: songs
developed from the Warner Chappell demos and new
songs worked out on site. With McGeoch absent from
early sessions, his place was taken by Steve Jones, who
plays on “Clockface”, “Paradise Place" and “Skin”.

“He had at least two bottles of wine on the go and he
kept stamping cigarettes out on the carpet in front of
him, so Nigel Gray had kittens,” says Budgie. “Steve
didn’t do alot of rehearsing, he just rattled through
songs. He was only there for one night, maybe two. I
remember thinking, ‘This guy’s mad... and brilliant!”

McGeoch’s arrival, meanwhile, triggered something
new. “There was alot of Jimi Hendrix in John McGeoch,”
notes Budgie. Although very different personalities,
there was common ground between them. McGeoch
and Budgie had provincial versions of their history
that was somewhat similar to Sioux and Severin’s.
Bornin Greenock, Strathclyde, McGeoch moved to
Manchester as a teenager before finding his way into
Magazine; Lancastrian Peter Clark – aka Budgie – was
a veteran of Eric's, playing in a handful of Liverpool
bands including Big In Japan. “We all had a rapport,"
says Budgie. “We all thought: ‘What can make the
songs work and make them interesting and different?”

Released in August 1980, Kaleidoscope revealed
the scale of the band’s aspirations. Shifting from
the monochrome severity of the band’s first two
albums, Kaleidoscope was dramatic and textured.
“Kaleidoscope started something fresh,” says Budgie.
“It gave us a whole bunch of new possibilities.”

[ТГ НЕ Banshees weren't the only ones
experiencing epiphanies. The period between
| ЕЁ, 1979 and 1981 was an astonishingly fertile time
for British music, as alternative bands made exciting
connections between rock, dub and funk. For a band
likethe Banshees, whose best work articulates fluid
emotional states, change was key. Kaleidoscope

introduced a new-look Banshees, but their imperial

Affiliated gaze:
JohnMcGeoch
(centre) with
Magazine, 1979

phase truly began with “Israel” — a standalone single
released in December 1980. The song brought their
individual gifts into sharp focus: Severin's menacing
bassline, Budgie's tribal drum patterns and
McGeoch's spiralling guitar curlicues all channelled
around Siouxsie's dominant,
dramatic vocals. As momentous as
“Israel” was in establishing the new
Banshees proposition, the recording
tookan unromantic placein the
largerscheme ofthings. Having spent
so much of 1980 off the road, they
missed the experience of the band
live: evolving in an increasingly
large room, in front of the crowd.

The Banshees spent the early part
of 1981 on the road. On stage, things
were visceral, if a little more sociable. “When we were
on the stage we were in such concentration, it blotted
everything else out,” recalls Budgie. “It was like we
were possessed by the moment. We tried to get that
feel into Juju.”

Juju evolved during rehearsals for the tour, with the
band writing while rehearsing for arun of live shows,
then bashing their ideas into some kind of shape in
Ritz Rehearsals in Putney or during soundchecks.
Some of the songs was also developed by Severin and
McGeochata flat in Priory Gardens,
West Hampstead, that Severin shared
with Skids frontman Richard Jobson.

“Tt was a bit ofa mad, decadent
place, where every night seemed to be
aparty,” remembers Jobson. “Butit
was a great environment. Siouxsie
hung out there a lot with Budgie,
Robert Smith would visit. Spizzenergi
lived upstairs. It was a hub. John
spent alot of time there."

Among the songs Severin and
McGeogh developed at Priory Gardens was
“Spellbound”; at McGeoch’s instigation, the pair
worked up another song, “Arabian Nights”, one day at
Ritz Rehearsals. “Steve and John were becoming much
tighter together,” notes Budgie. By the time the
Banshees arrived back at Surrey Sound Studiosin >

BUYER'S
GUIDE

imperial phase

KALEIDOSCOPE
(RELEASED AUGUST 1,
1980, UK CHART:5)
Thesketching of songs
oncheapsynths and
drummachines, and
thebelated drafting

of John McGeoch and
Budgie, may havebeen
bornof desperate
necessity but proved
tobeamasterstroke:
releasedjust

weeks after Joy Division's Closer,
Kaleidoscope chartedin brilliant
coloursa whole new post-punk
continent. Producer Nigel Gray
wassimilarly crucial, channelling
thelunar dub of The Police into the
strongestsongs of Siouxsie's career,
with "Happy House" and "Christine"
mercurialdepictions of psychic and
domestic disintegration, carrying an
uncanny echo of the Bromley Bowie of
"TheBewlay Brothers’.9/10

Ж JUJU

(JUNE 19, 1981,

UK CHART:7)

If Kaleidoscope
wasthe sound of
abandtentatively
cohering, fromthe
12-stringsturmund
drangof "Spellbound"
throughtothe
Р whirlingdervishtwirl

5 of'VoodooDolly", Juju

* wastheBansheesat

the peak of their powers: asurging,
seething soulstorm, inspired by the
Stones-go-psych of Their Satanic
Majesties andhoned to perfection
throughrelentless touring. Though
"Halloween" now seems tobe the
rock upon which goth was founded,
the horror of “Night Shift’, inspired by
Peter Sutcliffe's Yorkshire murders,
wasmore profoundly distressing than
anything to emerge from Bauhaus or
the Batcave. 10/10

AKISSIN THE
DREAMHOUSE
(NOVEMBER5, 1982,
UK CHART: 11)
Thefinal chapter in
theMcGeochtrilogy,
..Dreamhouse saw

{ thepsychological
horror of Juju
explodeintoglittering
neo-psychedelia -
inspiredby lysergic
adventuresinnew
producer Mike Hedge's Camden
Playground andthe orchestralluxury
of Abbey Road. Whatitlacksin Juju's
infernalurgency it makes up for with
feverishingenuity, casually coining
entire new genres: “Melt!” islike John
Barry scoring 120 Days In Sodom,
"Cascade" dreamsthe Cocteau Twins
intobeingin ablaze of burning orchids,
while "Slowdive" is BernardHermann
goes disco. 9/10 STEPHEN TROUSSE

NOVEMBER2021 -UNCUT : 85

EBETROBERTS/REDFERNS

SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES

ITHE BANSHEES

--
ы.

ҮУТГЕПІСІІН

May, they had four or five songs ready to go.
Twenty minutes from Waterloo by train,
Leatherhead is precisely the kind of commuter-
belttown that Sioux and Severin had escaped
from. There, in Gray's studio, they began work
on Juju. Bringing on board various methods and
approaches that they'd learned on Kaleidoscope
-and taking further advantage of Godley and
Creme's gadgetry, including their fabled effects
device, the Gizmotron - they threw themselves
into month-long sessions. Songs transformed in
the room at Surrey Sound. “Arabian Knights",
which had begun life at Ritz Rehearsals in waltz
time, metamorphosed into a towering 4/4
monster. “Night Shift”, meanwhile, was still
rather new — written in rehearsals, it evolved in
Surrey Sound, where the band stretched out its
creeping tension via McGeoch's fractured guitar
lines and Budgie's subterranean drum patterns.
“My memory tells me that ‘Monitor’ was written
in the studio,” says Budgie. “It went down asit
happened, all the stops and restarts... But, if I
recall, I don't recall us rehearsing that as a song
— we had theriff, we maybe had the beat and the
things like ‘Sit back and enjoy/The real McCoy’.
Those parts where the
drum beat changes, it
feels like kind ofa
spontaneous gesture."
Ifthe Banshees music
was growing bolder
and more elaborate, so
were the clothes. Severin
and McGeoch became
regulars at The Regal,
anewly opened
boutique in Kensington
Market specialising in
Mandarin-collared
shirts, paisley patterns
and '6os-inspired Beau
Brummell-style regency
clothing. Backin

McGeoch:
from

wondrous
towasted

%
*
86-UNCUT- NOVEMBER2021 І

Priory Gardens, they listened to “Lady Jane"
and “We Love You", Syd-era Floyd and Kevin
Ayers. As thered wine flowed, they discussed
waysthey could harness the spirit ofthe Stones
intheirlate-'60s peak - the moment just before
the darkness descended.

“Juju has some really great moments on it for
me, with tracks like ‘Night Shift’, ‘Arabian Nights’

BUDGIE

and ‘Spellbound’ standing out,” says Rachel
Goswell, whose band Slowdive took their name
froma Banshees song. “Siouxsie vocals are very
dry and clear. The guitars
flit between discordant
urgency and beautiful
melodies, with the rhythm
section being paramount
to the overall feel of the
band. It feels like quite
arawrecord.”
Starting as they meant
to goon, Jujubegins
with “Spellbound”;
cascading from jangling,
psychedelic guitars, itis
atale as sinister (“Take
them by the legs/And throw
them down the stairs”) as it
is entrancing. Songs about
murder, surveillance

PNE LL

73322) ФФ4%545252242: ed

Intothelight:the

¿»+ BansheesMkIl
appear onEuropean
television, early "805

culture and serial killers follow. It ends with
“Voodoo Dolly" — seven minutes of stretched-out
howling madness. “The sound and colour we
were after on Juju culminated in ‘Voodoo Dolly’,”
says Budgie. “It was acrescendo, lyrically and
emotionally, and musically, too.”

But “Voodoo Dolly” was astep too far for the
usually encouraging Gray. “It alienated Nigel,”
says Budgie. “He said something like, ‘It’s my job
tostop this from coming out of the studio’! But we
wanted it to be as loud and horrible as possible!
That was the turning point where we started to
push out into another world.”

N the back of their biggest achievements
0 to date – a Top 10 album, no less - the
Juju tour should have been a triumph.

Certainly, the scale of it suggested the band were
enjoying the moment. Opening with a 15-minute
animation of Alfred Jarry's play Ubu Roi, followed
by support from John Cooper Clarke or Linton
Kwesi Johnson, the Banshees had devised an
ambitious stage set-up for their shows.

The stage, which was lit from underneath, had
to be built at every venue. The band’s monitor
amps were also underneath the stage, making it
hard for the band to hear properly. Projectors
beamed assorted images and - during “Night
Shift" – lightning flashes that streaked across the
stage. Lasting six months, and taking in Europe,
America and the UK, the tour was exhausting. By
the end, they'd begun to lose their long-standing
manager Nils Stevenson to heroin. But the strain
was also beginning to show on McGeoch. The
band went back out on the road in March 1982,
touring Asia and Northern Europe before finally
stopping in July.

“T noticed a big change when John came back
from tour,” says Richard Jobson, who later
worked with McGeoch in The Armoury Show.
“The temperature of his drinking had gone up
considerably, the drug abuse was there for
everyone to see. There were voluminous amounts

ХП015 3I$X1018

of cocaine. John was always quite fit. He was a great
cook. His wife was Hong Kong British, so the fusion of
food was amazing. He was a Black Belt in karate. But
the fitness started going because of his indulgences.”

The Banshees reconvened in the studio – although
this time with a new engineer, Mike Hedges. They
knew Hedges primarily through his work for The Cure,
but he had also worked independently with Siouxsie
and Budgie - then in the early stages ofa relationship
— on their Creatures side project the previous year [see
panel]. After road testing Hedges on a standalone
Banshees single, *Fireworks", they converged at
Hedges' Camden Town studio, Playground, in June
1982 to begin sessions for the A Kiss In The Dreamhouse
album. The work they undertook at Playground was
bold, playful, experimental. Moving on from Juju, the
Banshees envisaged an album oflush textures and
exotic flavours, closer in spirit to the nocturnal
psychedelia of The Doors.

“Bands like the Banshees and us took on the
darkness of The Doors," says Echo & The Bunnymen
guitarist Will Sergeant. *We weren't into the hairy,
fairy hippie side - flower children dancing around on
LSD. We were interested in what went on underneath.
We just wanted to harness the dark shit."

*We were certainly looking back at Jim Morrison and
classic Doors," confirms Budgie. “What was behind
those great Doors moments? You know, the whispered
vocals behind the main vocal..."

Convening at a Greek restaurant in Camden, the band
would eat a meal and drink retsina before heading to
Playground. Ifthe mood appeared convivial, Budgie
noticed cracks in McGeoch. “In the studio, he oscillated
between moments of brilliance and moments of... not
being there at all. Somehow notin the same space. That
started to be uncomfortable. But it would be wrong to
look at ...Dreamhouse and say, ‘There is a band that's
about to implode.’ More like, ‘There’s a band that's
pushing itself... beyond the realms of safety!"

While the male Banshees fortified themselves with
cocaine and speed, Siouxsie experimented with LSD.
"Itseemed pretty chaotic,” says Budgie. “There were
late sessions and we were determined to stick around
into the wee hours. A lot of the ... Dreamhouse sessions
finished at 6am in the morning.”

On October 29, the Banshees flew to Spain for two
shows at Madrid’s Rock-Ola Club. McGeoch appeared
inashocking state, playing the wrong songs during the
show. “We never questioned what was going on with
John,” says Budgie. “We never sat down with him, as

ИЛИИ IHL AB SINIHL MIM

WILD
THINGS! 4

1 FilmingThe

Sec HT CM Te

* Now" video,

1 directedby Tim Жы

HECreatures started when

Siouxsie andl wereleft to

ourownin therehearsal
roomone day. John andSteve went
outtoputthekettle on and we
started playing "But Not Them".

"Werecorded the "Wild Things" EP
after Jujubutbefore...Dreamhouse.
Werecordedit onSiouxsie's
birthday in PlaygroundStudios, over
aweekend with Mike Hedges.

"Because werecorded the EP in
Camden, for the album we started
looking at studios in Mexico! But
wefoundastudioin Hawaii and
webooked 10 or 12 days, starting
January 1! Me and Siouxsie left on
New Year's Eve fromLondonand
when we gotto Hawaiiit was still
New Year's Eve! [Laughs].

“Each day, Mike and! would go
tothe studio and put drum tracks
down untill couldn't hold the
drumsticks any more - it was too
hot and sweaty, inthe middle of
ajungle. Siouxsie was ina beach
house writinglyrics!

"While we were there, we flew in
aglider, rode quad bikes around the
sand dunes, went whale-watching.
Inearly gotkilled in Honolulu!
Siouxsie wasstraddling me with her
stilettosinher hands while these two
wired-up speed-freak American
sailors wanted to pummel me...

"Anyway, we cameback witha
finished album!"

* Pope,inLondon, Ж
Juneió 1983 ^ К ®

Б?

far as I know, and asked him, ‘What’s going on, John?”

On his return to the UK, McGeoch was sectioned in
the Priory. He was sacked by the Banshees. “It sounds
very callous,” Sioux told Uncut. “I wish it hadn’t
happened. But alcoholism is not something that gets
fixed overnight, or even іп а year. It takes a lifetime.
Maybe even then it never truly happens.”

“Steven was an incredible defender of John, right to
the end,” says Jobson. “But Siouxsie was at the end of
her tether. John was messing up on tours, going on
stage wasted. Then he seemed to fall off a cliff. He was
this weird amoeba. It was quite shocking. You could
see the end was in sight for him with the Banshees.”

ITH McGeoch’s departure, the Banshees’ first
imperial phase came to an end. Once again,
Robert Smith deputised for an absent guitarist
on ће ...Dreamhouse tour; he recorded an album with
them, too – Hyaena - to formally document his time
as a Banshee. In the absence of strong and gifted
guitarists like McKay, McGeoch and Smith, as the
'8os continued the Banshees looked for inspiration
inother sounds and textures. The run of albums after
Hyaena - Tinderbox, Peepshow and Superstition – dug
deep into electronics, strings and even traditional
Indianinstruments. Once again, they had found
away to їшїп а negative to their advantage.

“We never compromised,” says Budgie. “I don’t
think they could’ve happened in any other way. It’s
difficult because that came ata very high price for
everybody involved. Robert’s involvement, John
McKay and Kenny Morris leaving... John McGeoch. I
remember once, years later, Kenny leaving messages
saying, ‘Can we get back together?’ You realise that
sometimes it’s hard to let go of what you did. But we
can’t regret. I think we all did as best we could.” ©

Budgie's podcast with former Cure member
Lol Tohurst - called Curious Creatures - runs
onthe Double Elvis Network

NOVEMBER 2021 - UNCUT - 87

MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES; STEVERAPPORT/GETTY IMAGES

THE ROLLING STONES

“He was? |

oneof y
akin

Uncut marks the departure of a true

gentleman of rock’nroll. We look back at the с ч
life and work of a dapper master of his craft,
while collaborators, friends and fans share з и
their intimate memories: *He'd hired a ай
Silver Wraith Rolls-Royce for the afternoon...”

Photoby GEORGE WILKES

29

Charlieonthesetof
ReadySteadyGo!,
TelevisionHouse
Kingsway, London,
February 1965

NOVEMBER 2021 -UNCUT - 89

CLAUDEGASSIAN;RICHARDE. AARON/REDFERNS; DAVE JHOGAN/GETTY IMAGES

HEN The Rolling Stones
take the stage at St Louis
on September 26, they
will be without their
drummer - described by
many as “their heartbeat”
- for the first time since
1963. He had been ill—an
unspecified “medical
procedure” had kept him
out of the Stones’ upcoming run of dates — but at the time, Watts
appeared to shrug off an inconvenient situation with typical
understatement: “For once my timing has been a little off,” he said.
“Tam working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the
advice of the experts that this will take a while.” This was on August
5. Nineteen days later, on August 24, the news broke that Charlie
Watts had died aged 80.

Asa famously modest man, what would have struck Watts as
preposterous was the outpouring of emotion from the public and his
peers: “I’ve always loved you, beautiful man,” said Paul McCartney,
encapsulating the tremendous depth of feeling many felt towards
Watts. A steady hand, a crisp collar, the “Wembley Whammer"
was meticulous in all aspects of his life – a stoic and unshowy
counterpoint to the raucous rigmarole of the Stones, the calm centre
ofthe hurricane.

Watts first played alongside Brian Jones, Mick Jagger
and Keith Richards in Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated.
He occasionally sat in with the nascent Stones, making
sucha difference to their sound that they begged him to
join full-time; Keith Richards once claimed that one early
motivation was to play enough shows to afford Watts’
£5 weekly salary. Watts officially joined the Stones in
1963, a few weeks after Bill Wyman. The final member of
the band’s classic lineup to arrive, he outlasted Wyman,
Jones and Ian Stewart, never once missing a show.

A couple of years older than his singer and lead
guitarist, Watts spent those extra years learning his
craft by playing to jazz records. Born in London in
1941 and raised in Wembley, he reached his teens before
either Elvis or the skiffle revolution hit. Fascinated by
drummers like Chico Hamilton, he got his first drum
kitin 1955. He began playing in jazz bands, only making
theswitch to R&B when he joined Alexis Korner's Blues
Incorporated in 1962. He took with him some of jazz's
style - musical as wellas sartorial — playing rather
than pounding his drums, offering a different approach
to the showmanship of fellow superstar drummers
Keith Moon, John Bonham and Ginger Baker. His
counter-rhythms and innovative use of the snare
immediately changed the Stones’ sound from being
mere R&B copyists into something more unusual and
sophisticated – a rhythm that the band described as
"shuffle and eighths" in reference to Watts' shuffling
beat and the fast eighths Wyman played alongside.
Those jazz chops brought a groove and elegance to
Watts’ playing that synched with his appearance —

Among friends:
(far right) on
theRonnieLane

6 AppealFor ARMS
tour, 1983

í 7

the debonair drummer who could finish a two-hour show
without a hair out of place.

Asadrummer, Watts never tried to outshine his bandmates;
instead he always served the song. He brought discipline to the
band's occasionally wayward instincts, ensuring that songs
like “Midnight Rambler”, “Gimme Shelter" or “Sway” stayed on
the rails. That still left him with moments to shine, like the
cowbell kick-start to “Honky Tonk Woman”, the tom-toms on
“Yesterday’s Papers”, the brisk intro to “Get Off Of My Cloud” or
the entirety of Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out!: a phenomenal live
testament to Watts’ playing. He had the endurance and
versatility required to play through five decades of changing
musical fashions and expanding venues, equally adept at
samba and disco as he was rock and blues.

His natural discretion could have sat strangely alongside the
antics of Jagger and Richards, but it acted instead as the perfect
foil. Watts wasa vital visual contrast to the swaggering Stones
in front of him. While Jagger and Richards craved attention,
drawing the eye and demanding thelove ofthe crowd, Watts
just got on with it, creating presence through that very lack of
effort. It's why Charlie as *the cool one" became received
wisdom rooted in fact - who knows, perhaps the other Stones
sometimes secretly envied Charlie's innate hipness and his
more stable and self-confident attitude to life.

Watts was precise, a dandy, but tough with it, boasting the
iron will and fine tailoring ofa Soho hardman. In a famously
steely band, һе sometimes came across as the most ruthless
Stone of all - the only one who might one day walk away
without a backwards glance, something you certainly could
never say about Jagger and Richards. Through the mayhem of
the'60s and the excesses ofthe '70s, һе seemed to treat the
ridiculous business of being in the world's greatest rock'n'roll

Backbeat:
with Cyril
Daviesand
Alexis Korner *

RO ERVABID
‘THE COOL
ОМ

BECAME
RECEIVED
WISDOM

Rhythmking:
Charlie withhis
fellow Stones,
June 2014

band with a bemused detachment - and even more so
when he was actually in his sixties and seventies.

But Watts stayed because he enjoyed the job and he
knew his bandmates needed him. He had an old-
fashioned approach to work, turning up
conscientiously to every session, every gig, while
spending his downtime exploring his love of jazz with
anumber of exceptional players. That loyalty
extended to his wife Shirley. They married in 1964 and
stayed together until Watts's death — offering yet
another contrast to the soap operatics of his
bandmates. In the mid-'8os, though, the rock lifestyle
finally came for Watts, but he quickly overcame
narcotic and alcohol addictions in typically stoic and
unmelodramatic fashion. By the end of that decade,
he occasionally acted as arbiter between the Stones’
feuding principals – the one man that both Jagger and
Richards could trust. In 1994, it was Watts who chose
Daryl Jones to replace Bill Wyman.

Jazzand Shirley were not his
only loves. He collected toy
soldiers and antique silver, bred
sheepdogs and raised horses.
Before joining the Stones he
worked as a commercial artist
and he continued to draw
throughout his life – famously
sketching every hotel room he
ever sleptin on tour. He
contributed clever, self-
deprecating artwork to Rolling
Stones tour programmes and

album sleeves. In 1965, he published Ode To
A Highflying Bird – an illustrated book about
Charlie Parker. But he never held an exhibition
or, indeed, made much ofa big deal about his
talent — keeping it, with typical modesty, more
or less to himself.
Like Jagger and Richards, Watts seemed
to defy the accepted consequence of time,
refusing to give ground to the passing years.
While Keith and Mick strove to be as piratical, daring
and supple as they had been in their twenties, Watts
was the constantly inscrutable, impeccably dressed
sticksman, much the same at 75 as he had been 50 years
before. Keith and especially Mick desired to remain ever
young, but Charlie seemed to have been born ageless.
That made his death even harder to comprehend. There
have been losses before within the Stones’ circle — Brian
Jones, Ian Stewart, Nicky Hopkins, Bobby Keys — but
nothing quite like this. What will happen to The Rolling
Stones after the current dates
in America? A studio album -
featuring Watts – is said to be
nearly finished. Perhaps they
might even schedule a show
on Charlie's home turf —
returning to Wembley to
pay a fitting farewell to the
unswerving comrade? We
areinuncharted waters. If
only Charlie were still here
to hold the line.
PETERWATTS

BorninUniversity College
Hospital, London
Receiveshis first

drumkithaving previously converted
abanjointo a snare drum

Joinslocaljazz band Jo Jones All-
Stars. Goes onto play with other jazz
bands, including American saxophonist
DonByasinDenmark

Firstgig
with Alexis
Korner'sBlues
Incorporated
at Ealing Jazz
Club, playing
with Brian Jones
for the first time
the following

week

Recordslive
with Blues
Incorporated
for the BBC. Soonleaves Blues
Incorporated to play with Blues By
Six so he can maintain his career asa
commercial artist

First gig with Stonesin
their classic lineup at Ealing Jazz Club

Firstgigasa
permanentmember of The Rolling
Stones at Ealing Jazz Club

Firstrecording sessions

atIBC Studios, PortlandPlace

TheStonesrecord debut
single "Come On" at Olympic,
released June 7

Marries Shirley Ann
Shepherd;they remain
together fortherest of
Watts life, having one
daughter together

Publishes Ode To
AHighflying Bird,
anillustratedbook
dedicatedto Charlie
Parker writtenin 1961
while at art school
inHarrow
Records The London
Howlin’ Wolf Sessions at Olympic
FormsRocket 88 with
lan Stewart, Alexis Korner and Dick
Morrissey, releasing alive albumin1981
with cover design by Charlie Watts
Overcomesissues withheroin
andalcoholabuse
Releases Charlie Watts
Orchestra's Live At Fulham Town Hall,
the first of severaljazz albums
Stonesinductedinto
Rock AndRollHall Of Fame, but Watts
doesnotattend ceremony
Undergoes treatment for
throat cancer
Plays finalshow
with the Stones at Miami's Hard
Rock Stadium
:Statementissuedthathe
willsitout the September NoFilter tour
dates, withlong-termKeithRichards
associate Steve Jordan fillingin
Diessuddenly in
hospitalin London. PETER WATTS

NOVEMBER 2021 -UNCUT : 91

BERNARDDOHERTY;DAVID REDFERN/REDFERNS

KEYSTONEFEATURES/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES

THE ROLLING STONES

From smoky nights at the Ealing |
Jazz Club to the dawning of their God-given

first imperial phase, Rob Hughes
discovers how CHARLIE WATTS
turned the Rollin’ Stones into
The Rolling Stones.

circa1963

HE Faling Jazz Club didn’t promise much
from the outside. Situated opposite Ealing
Broadway tube station, wedged between a
jeweller’s and a tea shop, a tight set of steps
led down into a faceless cellar. “Ithad a
capacity ofabout a hundred people, maybe a
few more,” recalls frequent visitor Dick Taylor.
“There was a cloakroom, then a narrow room
with the bar at one side. It was only a small
club. But you'd walk through the door and it would sound like
Chicagoin there. The atmosphere was incredible."

On March 17, 1962, the club began to operate as Britain's first
regular rhythm'n'blues venue. Led by guitarist Alexis Korner and
harmonica player Cyril Davies, Blues Incorporated took over on 4
Saturday nights, providing a nexus for the growing number of R&B ENT.
bands that sprouting up around London and the suburbs.

But the Ealing Club wasn't just about the music. It was a place
where crucial connections were made, a gathering of kindred souls.
“Weall saw ourselves as crusaders for the blues,” says Paul Jones.
“We were all more or less the same age. To find all these other like-
minded people down there was very significant."

One of these figures was 20-year-old Charlie Watts, then drummer
with Blues Incorporated. “Charlie came from a jazz background and
was justa brilliant drummer,” says
Taylor. “You had to be seriously
good to get into Alexis's band.
Everybody was aware of that. Not
only that, but Charlie was also
always such a cool character and
smart dresser, from the early days."

Anodandahandshakein a smoky
room. Such was the ease with which
friendships were made, alliances
formed. In the space of a few weeks,
Watts wasintroduced to Brian Jones,
then Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
By thesummer of 1962, all three had
guested with Blues Incorporated,
sharing the stage for the first time
with their future bandmate.

*You never knew who was going to
be part of Alexis's band next,” says
Taylor. “He wasn’t a particularly
amazing musician, but he was sointo
his blues. He was more like a curator.
That’s one of the key things about the | 1962
clubin those days. It was an offshoot of :
the jazz scene, because you had people
like Dick Heckstall-Smith and Graham
Bond. On stage at various times there
would’ve been Charlie and Mick Avory and
Jack Bruce. I remember arriving early one
evening and meeting Ginger Baker.”

Records changed hands;
recommendations were made. In the Ealing

Early doors:

Club, London,

7.30 p.m. — 11.00 p.m,

(Opposite Ealing Broadway Station)
92-UNCUT- NOVEMBER2021

A SHOT OF RHYTHM AND BLUES?

THE ROLLIN^ STONE

EVERY SATURDAY AT THE EALING CLUB.

|

Jazz Club, the first stirrings of The Rolling Stones
came together around Jagger, Richards, Jones,
Taylor and Ealing Club regular, pianist lan Stewart.

Theopportunity to recruit Watts, however,
was scuppered by his commitment to
Korner's Blues Incorporated. All the same, he
remained on their radar. “We said, ‘God, we'd
love that Charlie Watts if we could afford
him’,” wrote Richards in his memoir, Life.
“Because we all thought Charlie Watts was a

God-given drummer."

yum
Fidi

Б Warbaby: with
mother Lillian

Circus, 1943

ТШ
ТШ
ТШШЩ
ТТЫ,

The Rollin’ Stones played their first
show at the Marquee on July 12, 1962.
They debuted at the Ealing Club two
weeks later. They continued to perform
thereon nearly two dozen occasions
upuntil March 1963. By which time,
crucially, Charlie Watts had been
installed as their permanent drummer.
*When we got Charlie," wrote Richards,
“that really made it for us."

NLIKEhis fellow Stones, Charlie

Watts pursued a different route

into music. Hisjazz epiphany
was hearing saxophonist Gerry
Mulligan’s “Walking Shoes”, but it was
Chico Hamilton’s drumming - rather
than Mulligan’s playing - that captured
his attention. Deciding he wanted to bea
drummer, he set about collecting jazz
LPs by Charlie Parker, Johnny Dodds,
Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington.
Growing up in Wembley, a favourite
pastime was going to neighbourhood
parties and listening to “Mood Indigo”.
He wanted to emulate bebop heroes like
Max Roach and Kenny Clarke. “Nota
bad aspiration,” he noted later.

Watts and next-door neighbour Dave
Green, a promising bassist, began
playing in local skiffle groups before
joining a jazz band, Jo Jones All Stars, in
1958. In the fluid spirit ofthe times, Watts lent his talents elsewhere
too, from Dixieland combos to paid gigs at weddings and bar
mitzvahs. "Ijust played with everybody," he said in According To The
Rolling Stones. “Playing was what I liked to do."

He was also watching. Phil Seamen and Tubby Hayes were two of
his favourites. Alexis Korner sat in on guitar one night in a coffee bar,
where Watts was jamming with an ensemble styled after Thelonious
Monk. The connection made, and suitably impressed, Korner asked
him to join his new venture, Blues Incorporated, in 1961.

A graphic designer for an advertising agency by day, Watts’ services
were first required elsewhere — on a lengthy commission in »

Steve VanZandt

"Ifirstsaw the Stones
onTVin June 1964,
when Dean Martin

was guest-hosting The
Hollywood Palace. It

| | was their first time on

# television over here and
they played Muddy Waters" Just Want
То Make Love To You'.l'd already seen
TheBeatleson Ed Sullivan and this was
another epiphany for me.

“The Beatles were so sophisticated
andso amazing that they revealeda
new world to you- but you didn't quite
feellike, ‘OK, |cando that too.’ They
were just perfect - the harmonies,
thehair, the clothes,
everything. Then four
monthslater here come
the Stones, who were
muchmore casual.
They were wearing
what they feltlike at
that point, their hair
wasn't perfect - except
for Brian Jones - and
there wasnoharmony
whatsoever. Andthey
madeitlook easier
thanit was.

“Most
importantly, Mick
Jagger was the
first person that
l'deverseenin
showbusiness
thatdidn'tsmile.
Thatmeant
everything tome.|
wasjustbeginning
toplay guitar,
but! wasn'tinto
showbusiness. Back then you're looking
for your identity, who you're gonnabe.
And youare who youlike.It said, ‘This
isnotshowbusiness, thisis alifestyle. |
realised that! didn't have to be perfect.
If TheBeatlesrevealed anew world it
wastheStones whoinvitedusin.

"Iwasleadguitarist andlead singer
inmybandfor ashort while, but! didn't
relate to the front guy first and foremost.
Whenlsaw thebandslliked, Irelatedto
GeorgeHarrisonin The Beatles, Keith
Richards andBrian Jonesin the Stones,

december's
children

(and everybody's)

THE
ROLLING
STONES*

then, later, Dave Daviesin The Kinks and
Pete Townshendin The Who.

“Isaw the Stones twice with Brian
Jones - oncein Asbury Park, when
Freddie King was opening for them,
theninNew York, on 14thStreet.It
wasallso exciting. It was also strange,
becauselthink allof the English acts,
when they first came over here to play,
were alittle embarrassed. It was like,
‘What we're doingis asort of diluted
version of your ownmusic. But us white
teenagers didn't know the original
stuff. I'dnever heard of Chuck Berry or
Bo Diddley or Muddy Waters or Little
Richard. It was allnew tous.

“Two of their best
albums didn't exist
inEngland:12X5
andDecember's
Children. To me,
12X5isthemost
extraordinary album

ever. You could make
alotof moneyina

bar asking which
oldblues guy wrote
'GoodTimes, Bad
Times’, becauseit
sounds so authentic.
Andofcourseit was
Mick andKeith. For me,
'"Congratulations'is the
greatest ballad ever and
'Confessin' The Blues’
[by Jay McShann and
Walter Brown]is the most
amazing integration of
traditional blues andthe
English version of it.
"But'Around And Around
isthe mostexcitingsong
ofthemall.By the endofthat, you're
hearing why Charlie andBill- Charlie, we
miss youalready - weresuch apowerful
combination. They'rejustswinging,it's
incredible. lf youever getachanceto go
see[1966 documentary] Charlie Is My
Darlinginatheatre, goseeit. When you
hearthemonthosebigspeakers, you'll
understand the power of theStonesin
‘65.BillWymanwasabigpart of that,
very underrated. AndBilland Charlie
together were one of the greatest
rhythmsections in history.” ROBHUGHES

NOVEMBER 2021 - UNCUT - 93

WILLIAMLOVELACE/DAILY EXPRESS/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; LINDA ROOTS/GETTY IMAGES

ARCHIVEPHOTOS/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; DAVID REDFERN/REDFERNS; JEREMY FLETCHER/REDFERNS

THEROLLINGSTONES _

Centraltothesound: »
Charlie the accidental
frontmanwiththe
Stonesatthe

E M ^ нез”, ДА 777 и
8.1 Tp,

V” 4 \

Denmark - but he took up Korner's offer on returning equally versed in blues, jazz and R&B - but it was the

to London in February 1962. The Ealing Club residency first time he’d played with a harmonica player. He was

j k А 66 f y? ded by Cyril Davies’ sh .Th
Teams heras his professional relationship with HI i DIDN T 4 dde ыгы hae venum i aio =
LOSE ANY OF

Korner, Brian Jones was busy recruiting for his nascent section with Jack Bruce or studying master
R&B band elsewhere. “He called me and said, ‘I’m I IIS I ) RIV I 1 А | IE saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith up close.
gonna form this band and I'm gonna berich and F = But Ian Stewart was desperate to recruit his old Blues
famous," says Paul Jones. “‘Do you want to be my W EN T FOR IT" Incorporated ally to Jones’ new band. Richards was
singer?’ Isaid no. I turned him down, firstly, because holding out too: “To me, Charlie Watts was the secret
I thought he was being unduly optimistic about the essence of the whole thing," he wrote. *That went back
future for a blues band. Га also just passed an ———————— | tO Tan Stewart - ‘We have to have Charlie Watts’ - and
audition as singer with a dance band at the Adelphi all the skulduggery thatwent down in order to get Charlie. We starved
in Slough. And, for the first time in my life, there ж ourselves to pay for him! Literally. We went shoplifting to get Charlie
was money in it. Ineeded to earn aliving." 4 ` Watts. We cut down on our rations, we wanted him so bad, man."
Anadin the Musicians Wanted section of Jazz қ ч Unrequited, Richards and co pressed on. With two guitarists
Newsin May 1962 caught the eye of Ian Stewart. 4 already, Jones asked Taylor to switch to bass in time for their first gig at
Within a month, Jones had also recruited Jagger, Y the Marquee. Encouraged by the success ofthe Ealing Club, the venue
Richards, Taylor and drummer Tony Chapman. hadalso decided to host a regular R&B night by the spring of 1962.
Thelatter was a case of making do. Richards later X As the year wore on, the Stones’ lineup started to take on a more
remembered Chapman asa terrible player. Watts familiar shape. Taylor was absent when they cut a handful of early
was still tantalisingly out of reach. “Isaw him : demos at Curly Clayton Sound Studios in Highbury in
maybe four or five times with Blues Incorporated," Eu OT T; late October. Dissatisfied with playing bass, he went back
says Taylor. *For someone who was essentially a i Ni MJ. ae, to college; less than a year later, he co-founded another
quiet drummer, he could really drive a band. NE ) essential R&B outfit, The Pretty Things.
Iwasamazedat how powerful he was. The thing ІШ , Bill Wyman was tipped offto the vacancy by Chapman,
was, unlikea lot of drummers, he didn't lose ШЕСІ, his ex-bandmate from The Cliftons. Married, with a
any of his driveas he got older. He always really d young son, Wyman was six or seven years older than the
went for it." others and was yet to fully embrace the blues. “I heard
It wasn’t just the pay packet: for Watts, Blues Incorporated Elmore James, Little Walter, Muddy Waters and Jimmy
was an education. Not only was the band highly adaptable – Reed for the first time when I did that first session with >

94-UNCUT-NOVEMBER2021

Charlie

CTOBER 24, 2016. Uncut

isin Boston to meet The

Rolling Stones. The band
are preparing to release Blue &
Lonesome - their album of blues
covers — and we have been granted
an individual audience with each
Stone. When it’s Charlie’s turn, he
pads quietly into the suite at the
Four Seasons hotel that’s been
requisitioned for interviews. He’s
wearing grey chequered slippers,
grey suit trousers and a red fleece
top zipped up to the throat. He
smilesand shakes hands. The
band's PR has helpfully written the
name of the magazine on an A4
piece of paper and stuckit on the
wall behind my chair. *Uncut?" He
says, squinting a little as he reads
the sign. “All right. Let’s go...”

UNCUT: How do you normally
feel after a project like this? Are
you happy with the record?
CHARLIE WATTS: I'm pleased
with it. I’m pleased with it because
it sounds so good. It's very
spontaneous. I copied how the
original musicians played, so it
sounds very much like a Chess
record, or whatever label the song
original came out. Idon't know if
people will like that, but Ido.

Most blues albums now are over-
produced, with long guitar solos
mostly played by young white blues
students. The sounds have gone,
really. But that's always going to
happen because it's old music. It's
like jazz. It's gone, the jazz that one
knew. It's a different thing now. The

records are so advanced now,soyou |

don’t get those great sounds that
you find on those Little Walter
albums. That's what it's about for
me, really. How it sounds and feels.

Whatarethe challenges of
playing other people's songs?
When you're - dare we say –
copying a record, you havea
benchmark. But it's a lot easier than
sitting there on your own going,
“No, I don’t think that works.” lam
someone who doesn’t write songs,
but I understand it is hard to do.

Whatis it about Chicago blues
that resonates? It’s like saying,

: Armstrong іп New Orleans? It's

} whatwe'vealways loved. When I
| joined Alexis Korner, Га never

; heard of Muddy Waters. That was
} abaptism offire from Alexis and

} Cyril Davies. After that, itwasa

| natural thing to sit and listen to

; Jimmy Reed with Keith and Brian
: forhoursonend. It’s just coming

: home, really. When we first

; thought we were black! The songs

; we played were half blues. They

! were nicked! The guitar sound

; came from Bo Diddley or it was

; Chuck Berry witha couple of our

| lyrics on top. We were playing it

: back to white kids in Chicago in

' the’6os. Itwas very bizarre. We

} talked about these people who

; were literally in the studio - this is

} 763,'64- amiledown the road in the
South Side of Chicago.

whatis it about Duke Ellington in
1940 that you like or Louis

played in Chicago, I think they

What was Chess like? It was a tiny

: little place. When you imagine the
; music made in there it seems
} staggering, really.

| Yourecorded with Howlin’
; Wolf, didn’t you? Yeah, in London.

Lookbut
don'ttouch:
Charlie with
hiskitin1992

} the band. I was not aware of this, I

was playing with Ronnie’s brother

: Artorsomeoneat the time. After

Alexis, the popularity of R&B
sprung up and I played with about

} three or four different bands. In

those days, ifthe trumpet player
hada booking, it would be his band.
You'd bein the same band, but with

: different nameonit. It wasa small

world. But with the blues, whenI

; more about the Johnny Hodges than
| IdoLittle Walter, to be honest with

} you. Inever knew what later became
} knownas Chicago blues. Charlie

} Parker playing slow was the blues to
: me, until Cyril started playing

} records to me. After that, Ibecame

: the go-to rhythm and blues player. If
: itwasn’t for Ian Stewart, I don't

| thinkI'd bein the Stones. I found

} out years and years later that it was

| Stuwho kept pushing to get mein

ҒА lovely guy. joined this band,

} HubertSumlin Eee that’s what we did.

| was pretty great. We used to start

| Eric was onitand with Jimmy Reed

} ofcourse Bill. Glyn and end with Bo

: Johns got me that Diddley. There

| gig. Hewas the hot weare.

| producer/engineer

; atthe time. What was the
point where the

| You wereajazz Stones stopped

; guy. What were beinga band

| yourfirst for blues

; impressions of aficionados and

| theblues? I know theaudience

changed? Andrew Oldham got
Mickand Keith writing — for his own
ends, I think, because he started a
publishing company. But he's the
one who got them to buckle down.
We had to, because we couldn't just
carry on playing other people's
songs. You can, ifthat's where you
want to be – but I think we all set our
eyes on something else. I’m not
decrying this, but at the time we got
lumped into the Liverpool beat

: thing. It got us to America, to be

honest. But with The Beatles in front

: ofyou, writing their own songs, we

couldn’t just go out and play the
blues. We had to create an image,
and everything else, for ourselves.

Was there anyone else around at
that time that you looked up to?
Bob Dylan. He is one of the great

i songwriters and stylists, it’s

remarkable really. Alexis and I went
to see him Iplay with The Band at
the Albert Hall. That was great. That
was when he... they didn’t actually
boo him but it was that period. He'd
sidleon with the harp and then The

: Вапа сате оп. They were so good,

butitbecamea thing to boo. But

} Dylan was great then, he still is.

; What do you do when you're off

duty? I’m usually at home. I don't
knowifyou know many musicians,

but they're incredibly lazy.

Youdoalotofthe design work
forStones posters and T-shirts,
don’t you? MickandIhave always
been very aware of what you look

; like. Solusually get asked to

contribute. It’s what I used to do

: before I joined the Stones. I still enjoy
| it. When you first design something,

: youthink, ‘Oh blimey, is this any

} good?’ But after a while, when you've
} gotawhole wodge of stuff, it’s nice to

think, “We did that.’ MICHAEL BONNER

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THE ROLLING STONES

theStones," he says. "They were doing
slow 12-bar blues all night, but I was
used to playing in dance halls, doing
requests and uptempo things."

In December '62, around the same
timeas Wyman was auditioning for the
Stones, Watts left Blues Incorporated.
He wasa victim of his own success. Gigs
were piling up; they were beginning to
impact on his daytime job. Grudgingly,
he took less frequent bookings with
other blues bands around the capital.
TheStones sent out an invite. He was
playing with Art Wood, older brother of
Ron, when he agreed to give it a shot.
*For me, it was just another job offer, to
be honest,” Watts said later. “I wasin
three bands already when I joined The
Rolling Stones.” He made his live debut
with them at his old haunt, the Ealing
Club, on January 12, 1963.

OR Charlie Watts, joining The

Rolling Stones came at a critical

juncture in British culture. Trad
jazz, which gave birth to skiffle, had
been dominant in popular music during
the 1950s, driven by players like Chris
Barber, Acker Bilk and Humphrey
Lyttelton. It reached a peakin the early
%605, in the vacuum left by the first wave
of rock'n'roll. Elvis had returned from
military service but been seduced by
Hollywood, Jerry Lee Lewis had fallen
from grace, Chuck Berry was in jail,
Little Richard had denounced secular
music and Buddy Holly was gone.

Thefolk revival was gathering pace too, parallel
toits weightier cousin in America, bridged by
musicologists like Alan Lomax. While The Beatles
were ascending sharply, by 1963 the highest reaches
of the pop charts were just as likely to feature Kenny
Ball, The Bachelors or Frank Ifield. The blues, by

contrast, had yet to boom.

Watts had yet to discover its merits, too. The Stones
were back in Ealing on Tuesday, January 15, three
nights after his live debut. In his diary entry that night,
Richards writes: “Charlie swings, but he hasn't got the

right sound yet. Rectify that tomorrow!"

Naturally, as a jazz head, Charlie never had issues
with swing. His formative weeks with the Stones saw
him schooled in the Chicago blues by Jones and
Richards. The pair of them played him Jimmy Reed
records for days on end. Watts loathed rock'n'roll
asa young teenager, but Richards now persuaded
him to appreciate the finer points of Chuck Berry

and Bo Diddley.

Hequickly found his way through by listening to
thenuanced playing of Reed's drummer, Earl
Phillips. The key, said Watts, was discovering that
Phillips “was playing on those records like a jazz
drummer, playing swing, with a straight four". In
truth, it wasn’t that great a leap for Watts, a man
blessed with an intuitive feel for rhythm and tone, his
distinct snare sound locking into the groove of
Richards' leads. The guitarist's subsequent diary
entry, on February 2, 1963, reads: “Ealing. Charlie &
Bill. Fabulous evening with big crowd. Sound returned

witha bang. Charlie fabulous.”

The Stones didn't just find a great drummer, they
found their identity. Richards credits Watts with

96-UNCUT-NOVEMBER2021

Forwardlooking:
theStonespose
infrontoftheir
tour van,
London, 1964

enabling him to develop as a player: "There's tremendous
personality and subtlety in his playing... He's up there
with the best — Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones. He's got the
feel, the looseness of it and he's very economical.”
The band’s growth accelerated in the wake of Watts’
arrival, as did their popularity. Under the auspices of
impresario Giorgio Gomelsky, the Stones began playing
inthebackroom ofthe Station Hotel in Richmond, soon
renamed the Crawdaddy Club. *At Richmond we became
sort ofa cult, ina way," Watts observed. “It always ended up
inanabsolute gyrating riot."

Double bassist Danny Thompson, later to find fame
with Pentangle, was an early witness. “I was gigging
with the Gus Galbraith Quintet in ’63 and we played
there one night,” he explains. “The interval support
band was the Stones. I remember seeing their blue Ford
Thames van parked up on the road, with ‘The Rolling
Stones’ painted on the side in big white letters. I had

to admire their sheer exuberance for the blues. They |
were trying to play the proper stuff and generated so 1

much excitement. During the interval we were
outside having a fag when the manager came out and
said, ‘Just to let you know, we're keeping this other
bandon. Here's your money, you can go home.
The Crawdaddy residency also brought them into
contact with 19-year-old Andrew Loog Oldham. His
brash management style and hustler's instinct
helped the band replicate the delirium they'd
generated in Richmond across theatres and
ballrooms throughout the UK.
One thing struck him as incongruous though:
Charlie Watts. Meticulously dressed in button-down
shirt, tie and jacket, his stage demeanour was |
ineffably cool, unlike that ofhis bandmates. “Hewas | |
with the Stones, but not of them,” wrote Oldham in

|] Onstageat
Madison Square
| Garden, 1969 -a
| showrecorded for
‚ Get Yer Ya Ya'sOut
) X

"Hegotthemto
buckledown":
AndrewLoog
Oldham
advisesKeith
andBrian, 1963

his memoir Stoned. “Kinda blue, like he'd been transported for the
evening from Ronnie Scott's or Birdland."

Reporter Chris Welch was ofa similar mind when he met the Stones
after joining Melody Maker. He first saw them play in a packed tent at
the 3rd National Jazz & Blues Festival at Richmond Athletic Club in
August 1963. “It truly was a turning point in UK music history, when
the trad audience turned round and literally ran across the field to
see the Stones,” he says. “It’s hard to exaggerate how very popular
they became overnight.”

His next encounter was backstage at the Slough Adelphi: “Charlie
was quite taciturn, he didn’t like talking or doing interviews. But
I got to know him because he was a jazz fan, like me. That's how we
managed to get along so well. He was much more kind of grown up
than the rest of them. I don’t think he thought that the Stones were
beneath his dignity, but he always had it in his own mind that he was
playing this R&B music because it was a gig and that he’d sooner be
playing on stage with a jazz group. When the Stones toured America,
we'd sneak off to jazz clubs together in New York.”

10 choice Charliemoments

album finds Charlie in uncharacteristic
attitudes (leaping), and mode of dress

Itwasa while before Charlie committed | (apre-punksighting of the "breasts"

totheStones.Hiskeyroletocreatingthe : T-shirt).

band'sidentity is that allsubsequent

anniversaries are allproperly marked

from the date he joined. The mythical altercation in which
Charlie punches amid-1980s Mick
Jagger (for saying "Where's my
drummer?") has acustomarily witty

Mick? Keith? Not even Bill Wyman was conclusion. Reflecting on the incident,

the first Stonein print. Written and Wattsis said to have quipped, “His

charmingly illustrated by Charlie while drummer? He's my singer. | think I'll hit

at Art School, hisillustrated tribute to him again." He was persuaded not to.

Charlie Parker, Ode To A Highflying Bird,

was publishedin 1964. From one free-

thinking Charlie to another. Often misquoted as "It’s ajob, innit?”,
Charlie's three-word summation of the
Stones on tour for TV's Whistle Testin
1986is another highlight of his wry - if

UTWARDLY atleast, Watts appeared unruffled by the
Stones’ rapid ascent. “Not Fade Away”, a Buddy Holly cover

indebted to Bo Diddley, had gone top three in February 1964. || Backstage atHydeParkin1969, somewhat glowering -interview
Their self-titled debut topped the album charts soon after. Theband || Mick Jagger reveals top Ж . withDavidHepworth.
embarked on a series of package tours, each one generating greater childcare talents engaging 4 s
Yysterathanthel with Marianne Faithfull's A
уз SANE TUN: ast. | : | sonNicholas. The Í à Amythicalspotonthe
Iremember talking to Charlie and him saying that he was only subjectofhisremarkis |. RollingStonesconcert
expecting it to last six months,” recalls “The Crying Game" hitmaker || of coursethemostsolid кш | stage, asnotedby
Dave Berry, who joined the Stones, The Ronettes, Marty Wilde and and genialStone, ж Keith's guitar tech
the Swinging Blue Jeans on the road that year. “But it was absolute the drummer. Pierre DeBeauport,
bedlam everywhere. Screaming girls were trying to storm the stage TUMBLING DICE (330 and explained byJ ІҢ.
ight. In fact, at one gig (һе 5іопев played, in Hamilton ш кето се тархаах
EVELY Mens , А 318 : P yed, : ? which thelistener -avoiding
Scotland, they had to build a huge chicken-wire fence in front ofthe "Thisis wheremaybeldiffer any other distractions - can
stage. It was likea zoo, kids were trying to climb over the wire." fromtherest.Ihave a wife andthat. ! perceive the primallink between
Watts seemed to be the antithesis of the louche '60s pop star > || Itmakes youabitcosy." Alovely 1966 } Keith's guitar playing and Charlie
interview in which Charlie stresses the Watts’ drumming - the sweet spot of

difference betweenhis circumstances : rock'n'roll.
andthose of the other Stones. "| like it..."

Nothingsays a goodtime like the : BillWymanlefttheStonesin 1989.
drummer cracking asmile. David Whenaskedabouthis connection to the
Bailey's shoot for the first Stones live band thereafter, hesaidit was Charlie
whokepthimsupplied with packages of
Stones tour swag, the better to keep up
his role as Stones archivist.

or "Can't YouHear Me Knocking’, or
"Torn AndFrayed", or "Shake Your Hips",

et | а or..anything else really. In conversation
August 14,1964: 3 E andonrecord, Charlie Watts wore his
ра кешп ( expertise on the drumslightly, his swing
2 нана ; , the defining quality of his playing. He -
» Wimbledon s madeit sound effortless, andin so doing

JOESTEVENS;KEYSTONEFEATURES/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETT Y IMAGES; DAVIES/EXPRESS/GETT Y IMAGES

| PalaisLondon } 2. madeusall drummers. JOHNROBINSON
ESA а : =

NOVEMBER2021 -UNCUT -97

DAVID WOLFF -PATRICK/REDFERNS; GRAHAM WILTSHIRE/REDFERNS;HULTON-DEUTSCH COLLECTION/CORBIS/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES

A
WithDaveGreen
inTheA,B,C&DOf
Boogie Woogie at
LeNew Morning,

extracurricular

=]

^ vide
si, 28%.

Wattsjoins Eric Clapton, Bill Wyman and |

Steve Winwoodbackingthelegendary
bluesmanin this finely groovedseries of
recordings at Olympic. Hubert Sumlin,
Ringo Starr and Klaus Voormann also
feature, as the British R&B men pay
appropriate tribute to a founding hero
of blues.8/10

ROCKIT 86 as
E

NR
> lanStewart formed
É Rocket88asa
` a 72 boogie-woogie
. bandfeaturing

seasonedR&B performers Alexis
Korner and Jack Bruce, with Charlie on

drums. This fablive album from Hanover | ,

was their only official release, with
cover designedby Charlie. 8/10

оқ,

Watts self-funded this short tour
featuring first-rate jazzers drawn
fromboth bop and free jazz, who
play aset thatincludes Lester Young's
"Lester Leaps In" and Charlie Parker's
"Scrapple From The Apple”. Players
include Courtney Pine, Evan Parker,
Jack Bruce and Alan Skidmore. 7/10

Alovely tribute to the saxlegend, with|

98- UNCUT -NOVEMBER 2021

| Bernard Fowler оп vocals andnarrating
} episodes from Parker's life. Low-key but
; very stylishin typical Watts fashion. All

| five Charlie Watts Quintetrecordings

' are worthwhile.8/10

; Watts andKeltner combine for this

: sonically ambitious andimaginative

| tribute to greatjazzdrummers, with

; eachtracknamed after andinspired by
} thelikes of Art Blakey, Max Roach and

: Elvin Jones.8/10

УЯ

EA MEL BERGER

5

5

: Thefirstoftwo albums by the ABC&D

: Of Boogie Woogie, atight boogie

! woogie bandnamedafter the first

} namesof Axel Zwingenberger, Ben

! Waters, Charlie Watts andDave Green.
| Tracksinclude genre classics and

} improvisedmomentslike "Sympathy

} For TheDrummer".6/10 PETERWATTS

Charlie, Mick and
KeithatLondon
Airportready to
leave forNYCtostart
athree-week US tour

model. Instead, he quietly went
about his own business while
his bandmates partied. He

wed Shirley Shepherd, who
he’d met pre-Stones, ina

secret ceremony in Bradford.
On days offin America, Watts
would rather visit Civil War
sites than join Jones and
Wyman in Hollywood. He
published a children's book. And
you'd never catch him taking a leak
upa garage wall.

Watts' public image may have been muted, but his bandmates and
fellow musicians understood his vital importance to the Stones. A
two-day session at Chess Studios in Chicago, during their first
American tour, gave the Stones a chance to meet one of their idols,
Muddy Waters. It also resulted in a cover of Bobby and Shirley
Womack's "It's All Over Мом”, their first No 1 hit back home.

In Life, Richards reflected on their time in the States, recalling that
Bobby Womack was astonished to discover, on finally meeting them,
that theStones weren't black. He partly ascribes it to his and Jagger's
utter absorption in the blues, pointing out that a damp flat in London
is essentially the same as a damp flat in Chicago. But he forwards
another possible answer: Charlie. *He was playing very much like
black drummers playing with Sam and Dave and the Motown stuff or
the soul drummers,” wrote Richards. And while the conventional
narrative has it that The Rolling Stones is essentially Mick and Keith,
Richards has always insisted otherwise. In his opinion, Charlie
Watts is The Rolling Stones.

HE Stones’ early development was complete by 1965, when

Jagger and Richards finally became a bona fide songwriting

partnership. The success of “The Last Time", which topped the
charts in March and April that year, roughly coincided with their
introduction to Gered Mankowitz. The photographer was
commissioned to shoot the band by Andrew Oldham.

“The band came to my studio in Mason's Yard for our first session
together," says Mankowitz, who shot the moody cover of Out Of Our
Heads that day. “They were charming, warm, welcoming. What was

special about them, as a group of five, was they
weren't trying to make a united effort to present any
kind of showbiz image. The Beatles wore shiny
suits, had glossy hair and presented a uniform
appearance. But the Stones rejected all of that.”
Mankowitz, who continued to shoot the Stones
until 1967, was immediately drawn to Watts. “I felt
very close to Keith but I got on very well with
Charlie,” he says. “He was always very kind to me,
good company. He took me under his wing a bit, like
an older brother might. It was a very nice, important
friendship during that two- or three-year period.

"Tdstarted to become interested in jazz and the

culture surrounding it," Mankowitz continues. *So

Stoneand
sticks:
onstage with
Rocket88,
Dingwalls,
London, 1978

һм

AtaBBCradio
recordingsession
atthePlayhouse
Theatre, London,
circa1965

Charlie took me to the Blue Note and another couple of
places when the Stones played New York that year.
Everybody knew him there because he was a frequent
visitor and he had an allotted table. Charlie sat down
and got his ciggies out. As soon as he put a cigarette to
his lips, the maitre d' whipped out a match, struck it on
his belt – which had two matchboxes on either side —
and lit Charlie's cigarette. Allin one movement. I
thought that was so cool. I just felt like I was in this
amazing movie and Charlie was a wonderful guide. I
was just overwhelmed by the experience. He also took
me to another place, the Hickory House, where there
was an extraordinary blind British pianist called
Eddie Thompson. Charlie was this lovely, low-key,
gentle sort of mentoring adviser.”

Mankowitz entered the band’s world at a decisive
moment. The Stones were in the process of shedding
their recent past — blues, jazz, R&B, the Ealing Club –
and taking control of their own destiny. Their world
was moving fast, as were the times.

“When I first met them, they'd spent a while paying

eee believed they were going to be huge, but it was all

going to become consolidated in 65. They were right
on the cusp.”

Theone implacable force, it seemed, was Charlie
Watts. While his bandmates underwent all manner
of personal and professional trials – and tragedies —
in the years immediately after, Watts stayed true to
himself. Success and fame didn't appear to alter him.
He was a warm, unassuming presence who took joy
іп the simpler pleasures life had to offer. He just
happened to be the peerless drummer for the greatest
rock’n’roll band in the world.

Mankowitz has a prized memory of their time
together, one that illustrates Watts’ unique personality
and the sense of urbanity that he brought to the

Stones. “I dug out some photographs recently, taken
during a little antiques shopping trip that he and I did
in New Yorkin 1965,” he says. “I’d forgotten about them
and was completely taken aback by how beautiful his
suit was. Even then, when the big bucks hadn't really
started flowing yet, Charlielooked immaculate. He

really did. And this was just him and I going off to look
at antiques. It wasn’t an event, it wasn’t a special
occasion. It was just a couple of lads wandering about.
But he was so beautifully dressed.” © >

their dues,” he says. “‘Satisfaction’ hadn't been a hit our heads
yet and Mick and Keith’s writing was just taking off, as THE

was the media’s interest in stoking a rivalry between ROLLING
The Beatles and the Stones. I don’t think any of them STONES:*

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ROBERT ALTMAN/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETT Y IMAGES

THE ROLLING STONES

ChrisKimsey

қ 4 *CHARLIE never changed over
X 1| the years. When I first worked
with the Stones, on Sticky
|| Fingers, wasn’t really noticing
the individual personalities in
the band. They just struck me as
strong, innovative characters,
searching for something in their sound and their
groove. But as I got to know them, I realised that
Charlie was just a wonderful, wonderful person.

“After many years I could never
figure out why he was in the
band, because he was not like
the others. The rest of them were
all frontmen, as it were - though
Tm sure Mick wouldn't agree.
Even Bill had this persona.
Charlie was just this quiet man
at the back, but he was the one
holding it all together.

“His energy was intense. I’ve
worked with drummers who
go through their drum
heads after one session,
because they hit them so
hard. But while Charlie
was not a heavy hitter —
his touch was lighter
because his background
was in jazz - he had this
ability to hit them the
way they should be and
geta very loud tone.

-=

E

OutsideElektra
Records Studios,
Beverly Hills,
October 20,1969

100-UNCUT#NOVEMBER 2021

ү

*Most drummers hit the hi-hat at the same time
as the snare, whichis a very normal thing to do.
But Charlie would always lift his hand off the
hi-hat, so there would just be the snare beat
alone. Nothing around it, which was a dream to
record. That, in itself, made his drums sound
louder and more powerful. I didn't figure that out
until Iwas working on Some Girls with them, but
it was terrific to discover.

*Excusethe pun, but he was soin tune with his
drums. There was one
session when I got there
before anyone arrived. I was
sitting down at his drumkit
and decided to tune the snare
upalittle, so I literally did a
halfturn on two of the lugs.

When Charlie came in that

night, he sat down and hit his
snare drum. And after the first
hithe just stopped and looked
upin shock. I said, ‘What’s
wrong?’ He said, ‘Someone’s
touched my drums!’ It was
sucha minimal thing, but he knew
the response so well. Itwas amazing
that he could immediately pick up
= onsuchasmall change.

“Charlie was No1 when it comes
to drummers. What he did for the
Stones’ music, no-one else could do
that. That’s why Steve Jordan isin
the band now, because һе just
< emulated Charlie. He learned how to
3 play by watching and listening to
him. A lot of drummers I’ve worked
with have said, ‘I want to sound like Charlie
Watts.’ And Га say, ‘Well, good luck there,
mate. You don’t sound anything like him.’
It’s allin the style. They think they have it,
but Charlie had so many subtleties that
made sucha difference when it came
to the big picture. Coming from a jazz
background, his playing had dynamicsin
it. Itwasn’t just thump-thump-thump.

He was extraordinary.

“Charlie was so precise in his manner.
Every time he’d arrive at the studio he
would never come into the control room.
In fact, none of them did; they’d only
come back when they’d figured out they
had something good to listen to. So
he'd arrive, take offhis jacket, fold it
beautifully and place it on the stool next
to him. He’d loosen his tie, sit down at the
kit, twiddle his sticks and then stay there

for seven hours. That was it. He’d get
up to goto the loo or havea cup of tea,
but otherwise he was alwaysat his
station, as it were.

UA

The Stonesin
1981,atthetime
of Tattoo You

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ANE! NE

x

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“Ronnie once gave me a wonderful pencil
drawing, or felt tip drawing, of Charlie sat at his
drum kit. It's really special. That image of him
will stay in my mind forever. Also this wonderful
lookthat he sometimes had when he was
playing, asifhe was thinking, ‘I don’t really
know where Тат or where I’m going with this.’
But he still kept it all together. I’d often say to
him, ‘Charlie, just before the middle eight comes
up, why don’t you do a drum fill into it?’ He’d say,
*The what? Where's the middle eight?' None of
them would know, because they were just
jamming and looking at each other to see when
thechanges were going to happen. That was the
beauty of the band.

“We had so many lovely times together. When I
first really started working with them, on Some
Girls, he and I were staying at the same hotel, the
Chateau Frontenac on the Champs-Elysées, and
we used to go out for breakfast together. He

| showed me this sketchbook and he would make

sketches of every hotel room he ever stayed in.
It was fantastic, I couldn’t believe it. He loved
things like suitcases and hats and, obviously, his

| suits. He took me to Louis Vuitton one day in

Paris and I can’t remember the name of the hat

*HELOOKEDUP
INSHOCK: ‘SOME
ONETOUCHED
MYDRUMS!”
CHRIS KIMSEY

shop he took me to, but it was all amazing.

“We went back to Paris to record Emotional
Rescue and Charlie would stay in the Ritz. He and
Shirley loved the place. I remember going over

there a lot of times with a rough mix of something.

He liked the finer things in life. Just the fact that
he owned so many beautiful old cars, yet he
didn’t drive. That was bizarre, very funny.

“Tn fact, he had a great sense of humour, very
dry. He could’ve been one of The Goons. And he
had a great eye for detail. Charlie was really the
one behind choosing the art for the album covers
and also the stage design. He was very involved
in all that. Before he became a drummer, he did
do graphic design for a while. So he continued

that throughout his life with
the Stones.

“He was always charming.
Iremember him playing on
aversion of ‘Let’s Go Steady
Again’ - asong made famous by
Sam Cooke – that my wife [Kristi]
and Keith did as a duet, which we
recorded in Nassau during the
Undercover sessions. That’ll be out
later this year, actually. Charlie
came up to my wife afterwards and

Row suit. He just looked
immaculate, as always. When
itcame time to leave, we all
stood up to goat the same
time and he said, ‘Chris,
ГІ give you alift.’ I said,
Tm OK, I drove here. I’m
just parked down the end
of the street, so I'll walk.’
But he persisted: ‘No, I’m
going to give you alift.” The
reason became apparent

said, 'You've got a beautiful voice." when I got outside and saw
That was typical of him. that he'd hired a Silver

“Do [havea favourite memory? Wraith Rolls-Royce for the
There were so many afternoon, for him and the
wonderful moments. family. It was hilarious. He was
About three years ago, I opening the door for me, into this
was over at Ronnie Wood’s huge Rolls, then we drove down

in Holland Park. Charlie
was there with [daughter]
Seraphina and
[granddaughter] Charlotte.
It was a nice afternoon of
teaand cakes, with Charlie
dressed in his best Savile

two blocks and I got out. That was
the gentleman he was. It’s sad that
he’s gone. I can’t imagine what

| Keith’s going through. Or Mick. Pm
just thankful that I was so lucky to
meet him and work with him." ©
ROBHUGHES

NOVEMBER2021 : UNCUT - 101

HELMUTNEWTON

ALROBINSONPHOTOGRAPHY

RedRocks Amphitheatre,
Colorado, August 10

ILCO'S

“A Shot In

The Arm" first

appeared on

Summerteeth,

released way
back in 1999. But the song may well be
2021’s most on-the-nose anthem, no
longer evoking self-destructive drug
habits but rather the Covid-19 vaccine.
In an alternate universe, it might’ve felt
celebratory. But with the Delta variant
spreading rapidly across the US and
coronavirus cases emerging even among
the vaccinated, you can’t help getting a
queasy feeling when Jeff Tweedy hollers,
“Maybe all I need is a shot in the arm". It’s
the *maybe" that hits hardest — what if
ashotin thearm justisn't enough?

Despite the magnificence of this open-
air venue in the foothills ofthe Rocky
Mountains, there are other reasons to feel
alittle down. For more than a week, the
region has been covered ina thick shroud
ofsmoke, drifting eastward from massive
wildfires burning in the Pacific Northwest
and turning Colorado’s usually brilliantly
blue summer skies a grim grey.
And yet! For the moment, at least

there are real, live bands playing real,
live music for the gathered (and hopefully
fully vaccinated) masses. If you had told
fans of Wilco or Sleater-Kinney backin
1995, when both released their debut LPs,
thatin a quarter-century's time they'd
be playing 9,000-seaters together, you'd
have got some funny looks. But the edges
between formerly discrete underground
music scenes - in this case, alt.country
and riot еттті - have been sanded away

by the intervening years. Maybe it was
only rock'n'roll all along? At the merch
table, you could even snag a 7" featuring
Wilco and Sleater-Kinney covering each
other’s songs.

It’s a rather different Sleater-Kinney who
open the show here, with four auxiliary
musicians apparently required to replace
longtime drummer Janet Weiss, who left
after the fraught sessions for The Center
Won't Hold. Best, perhaps, to think of the
group as an entirely new project fronted
by co-founders Corin Tucker and Carrie

Brownstein. A quite good new project,

in fact, with Tucker’s urgent vocals and
Brownstein’s rock-star moves — high
kicks and windmills that would make
Pete Townshend proud - still leading
the charge. Also notable is the addition
of young guitarist Fabi Reyna, founder
of the female-forward guitar magazine
She Shreds, who does indeed shred up
astorm. Sleater-Kinney even have their
own Covid-resonant tune in the churning
“Down The Line” from their latest album

Path Of Wellness, with its haunting lines:
“Tt’s not the summer we were promised/
It’s the summer that we deserve.”

Wilco, on the other hand, got their
many shake-ups out of the way early.
Since 2004, Tweedy has kept his group
remarkably stable and, even after more
than a year off the road, the sextet (Tweedy
plus drummer Glenn Kotche, keyboardist
Mikael Jorgenson, bassist John Stirratt,
multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone and
guitarist Nels Cline) are in impeccable
form. This is a band of virtuosos — notin
the prog sense of the term but in the way
they seem to have rock’s multi-layered
history embedded in their collective
DNA. Drawing from almost every album
in their oeuvre, Wilco leap from the
twitchy post-punk of “Random Name
Generator” to the shaggy powerpop
of “Box Full Of Letters”, from the
seething electronic textures of
“Art Of Almost” to asoulful
“Theologians”, making even
the most jarring of transitions
seem effortless.

The ensemble playing is
impressive throughout but if
you had to pick two MVPs for the
evening it would be Kotche and Cline.
Having been behind the Wilco kit for
more than two decades, Kotche is as
comfortable amid the complex mood
shifts of “Side With The Seeds" as heis
on a rowdy “I’m The Man Who Loves
You”, on which Tweedy steps up for
a few fiery solos. Mostly, however, he
cedes that honour to Cline - and why
wouldn’t he? The 65-year-old guitarist
seems to improve with age, his chops

Pat
Sansone

SLEATER-KINNEY

A AA

Jeff Tweedy: 5
helping the crowd

dream their
troublesaway

SETLIST

AShotIn

Тһе Arm
RandomName
Generator
Side With

The Seeds
One AndA
Half Stars
lAmTrying
ToBreak Your

Heart
matched only by his imagination. At In addition to the old standbys, Wilco butit has the potential to become one. ArtOf Almost

Red Rocks, Cline conjures up dizzying takethe opportunity to air a handful The Lennon-esque “One And A Half Stars”, IflEver Was
visions of John McLaughlin joining Little ofnumbers from their most recent LP, meanwhile, is fragile and lovely, as Kotche AChild
Feat, delivering show-stopping turns on Ode To Joy, released in late 2019. “We thumps outa simple beat behind Tweedy’s Impossible
*[mpossible Germany" andanextended, | kindofgotthetitle wrong on that one," half-whispered vocal. It's another lyric that oe
elegiac “Ashes Of American Flags”, the Tweedy admits sheepishly, alluding to now feels eerily prophetic with more than Everywhere
band swelling sorrowfully behind his the worldwide chaos and confusion that ayear of lonely lockdowns behind us: “So (Beware)
increasingly fleet-fingered runs. soon followed the album's release. But what, I stay in bed all day/I can't escape my 10 BoxFull
inalivesetting the domain". Butthe way that Wilco brighten OfLetters
songs sound joyful thecorners as thesong builds to a quiet 11 EveryoneHides
nonetheless, with climax makes the sentiment feel oddly I pus Me
theband addinga uplifting rather than sorrowful. 14 Theologians
welcome spark to Thankfully, uplifting is the dominant 15 ÍmTheMan
the studio versions’ mood of the evening. “I tried to change WhoLoves You
somewhat subtle this one to ‘Colorado Stars’ but Ijust 16 WhatLight
shadings. The couldn’t make it work,” Tweedy tells the 17 Heavy Metal
nervously peppy crowd before “California Stars” closes the Drummer
“Everyone Hides” show. Andas the song’s hopeful refrain з oo
j emergesasaclassic | echoes off Red Rocks’ towering sandstone 19 OuttaMind
Em rocker for the band, monoliths, you can just about make out (OuttaSight)
jam-packed with those Colorado stars through the smoky 20 AshesOf
hooksand sweetly skies, if you squint. The future feels as American Flags
harmonising guitar | uncertain as ever but, fora little while, 21 California Stars
lines. Itmightnotbe | Wilco help us dream our troubles away. ©
a fan favourite yet TYLER WILCOX Em

John
Stirratt

ALROBINSONPHOTOGRAPHY

NOVEMBER 2021 - UNCUT · 103

“ЕРШ
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Theironies of chartsuccessin 1981

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IN DEPTH

MUSISBIRIOTS! Reuniting The Specials -how the band

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HEgreat
revelation
of Barry
Adamson’s
lifecameon
achildhood holiday to
Morecambe in the 1960s,
when the future Magazine
and Bad Seeds bassist
was taken to see the James
Bond film Goldfinger.
Within seconds of hearing
John Barry's opening
theme music, he knew
where he was headed,
telling himself, “I’m going
to be the next James Bond,
orJohn Barry Adamson,
writing all the music and
quite possibly starring in
the films too.” Adamson

%

4 ӯ
Я

; 54 É

did not get exactly what Magmen:Howard

x DevotoandBarry
he dreamed of, but with Adamsonrecording
the run of fantastical demos, Sept 1977
soundtrack albums ғ2
that began with 198975

forbidding Moss Side Story, he has come
close enough. His widescreen memoir

shows why it took him a while to
become the star of his imaginary movie.
A physically frail, mixed-race kid raised in
Hulme, Manchester, Adamson’s musical
adventures began while he was studying
graphic design at Stockport College, when
he answered an ad on the Virgin Records
noticeboard and then successfully
auditioned for a role in Howard Devoto’s
post-Buzzcocks band Magazine.

Barely into his twenties, Adamson

found himself rubbing shoulders with
the Blake’s 7 cast in the BBC canteen and
sharing а pissoir with Joey Ramone at
the Old Grey Whistle Test studios. But
the excitement wore off, the departure of
guitarist John McGeogh anda taste for
heroin sucking the fun out of the band's
declining years. Co-opted into Nick Cave's
Bad Seeds, the mood got darker still,
Adamson ending up high and dry at his
parents’ place after his wife and baby
daughter left for Australia before a series of
tragedies wiped out his whole birth family
— first his older sister, then his mother
and father. With stylistic nods to Iceberg
Slim, William Burroughs and Charles
Bukowski, Adamson explains how he
eventually found musical salvation after a
nervous breakdown and an overdose ina
public toilet in World’s End in 1988. Hardly
the swashbuckling hero he once dreamed
of, but a compelling leading man.

LIGHTING a fire under any lingering
good old boys in his audience, Drive-By
Truckers singer Patterson Hood wrote

a New York Times editorial in 2016
explaining why - despite his love for
Southern rock giants like Lynyrd Skynyrd
and the Allman Brothers — his band

would not be flying the Confederate flag
any time soon: “Why would we want to fly
asymbol that has been used by the KKK
and terrorists like Dylann Roof?”

In , Uncut’s
resident Southern gentleman Steven
Deusner explains how Hood and his main
Trucker foil Mike Cooley have battled to
redefine rock beyond the Mason-Dixon
line over the course of three decades
together. REM and Replacements fans
from Alabama, the pair looked to have
missed the boat after their should’ve-been
indie band Adam’s House Cat split the

week before Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen
Spirit” came out. Instead, they regrouped
in Athens, Georgia, found their own loose
take on the Southern rock sound, and
attained something like success well into
their thirties.

Deusner's lively narrative tracks the
Drive-By Truckers' evolution, picking
through wrecked marriages, redneck
audiences and the band's rolein the
making of Jason Isbell to show how the
Truckers overcame a hasty choice of band
name to fly the flag for amore nuanced
take on good Southern manners.

EDDIE Van Halen’s manners had deserted
him by the time he pitched up in Nirvana’s
dressing room, drunk and desperate in

1993, pleading to take guest guitarist Pat
Smear's place on stage. “Eddie went into
this racist, homophobic banter; typical
redneck,” a witness remembers witha
shake of the head in Paul Brannigan’s

“Tt was surreal.”

Hinging on the always-awkward
relationship between sullen Dutch
immigrant Eddie Van Halen and
flamboyant frontman David Lee Roth,
the band Van Halen redefined metal
in the late 1970s with party-hard
Californian attitude and the guitarist’s
extraordinary chops (seasoned producer
Ted Templeman likened Eddie to the jazz
greats, saying, “There’s Art Tatum, there’s
Charlie Parker, and then there’s this kid”).

Van Halen’s 1978 debut LP was, as
former Kerrang! editor Brannigan puts
it, the essence of teenage: “It’s fast
cars and loose morals, cheerleaders,
cheeseburgers and cocaine, Daisy Dukes
and bikini tops, bongs, breaking surf
and broken curfews.” Eddie brought
some of that joie de vivre to a guest slot
on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and wrote
an era-defining hit with 1984’s “Jump”,
but friends and enemies alike struggle to
separate his talent from the cocaine and
alcohol problems that beset him. “I never
said he was anything but a wonderful
guitar player,” said the ever-quotable
Roth, during one of his many protracted
fallouts with Van Halen. “Не? justa
shitty human being."

Van Halen was much more sober and
thoughtful when Brannigan met him in
theyears beforethe guitarist's death, aged
65, in October 2020; in those interviews
hediscerns something ofthe nerdy,
obsessive drives that stoked the bad
behaviour. A mess, but probably
nota monster. © JIM WIRTH

.. REVIEWED
" ч THIS MONTH

UP ABOVE
THE CITY

DOWN
ВЕМБАТН
THE STARS

BARRY ADAMSON
OMNIBUS, £20
8/10

STEPHENDEUSNER
UNIVERSITY OFTEXAS
PRESS, £21

8/10

PAULBRANNIGAN
FABER, £20
7/10

KEVINCUMMINS

NOVEMBER 2021 - UNCUT · 105

Onlyin

France could a film

as utterly outré as

Mandibles have them

queuing round the block

at8.30am. But then, this
was one ofthe first films to be released there
after the Covid shutdown, where people
were clearly in the mood for something
wild. Writer-director Quentin Dupieux –
once better known as techno musician Mr
Oizo -certainly has form when it comes
tocrowd-pulling cult entertainment.
Mandibles follows closely after his black
comedy Deerskin, abouta man murderously
obsessed with his suede jacket. If anything,
this new film is loopier than its predecessor
— yet somehow gentler. too.

Grégoire Ludig and David Marsais play
two slow-witted ageing slackers living in
theSouth of France who believe they are
onto a sure thing when they're employed to
undertake a mysterious errand. But when
they discover a giant fly in the boot ofa car,
they recklessly ditch their original mission to
pursue arather longer shot at wealth — hoping
to train the insect, which they fondly name
Dominique. Preposterous and sometimes
wince-inducing consequences follow - but
Dupieux manages to skirt the obvious. Any
lesser comic mind would have gone for
vomitous fly-related gags in the Cronenberg
line. Instead, more slyly, Dupieux lands his
heroes among some young holidaymakers,
including Agnés, whoonly speaks by
yelling at the top of her voice. As Agnès,
Adèle Exarchopoulos - from Cannes Palme
d'Or winner Blue Is The Warmest Colour —is
the latest French art-house regular to sign
up for Dupieux’s funkier mode of cinema,
while leads Ludig and Marsais are famous
in France asa TV duo - but familiarity with
them is absolutely not required. Think of
Mandibles as Bufiuel's Bill And Ted: it's a
genuine chef d'oeuvre of le cinéma stupide.

Just when
Nicolas Cage seemed briefly to gather his

Starry eyed:
Gagarine

ofsentiment

wits and get sensible in the relatively low-
key Pig, he revs his inner actorly chainsaw
up to 11 once again. Even Cage has called
Prisoners Of The Ghostland the wildest thing
he's made — and just on paper, the film is
ahugely improbable proposition. It pairs
Cage with Sion Sono, the latest in a line of
Japanese provocateur filmmakers - Takeshi
Kitano and Takashi Miike among them —
who juggle the registers ofart, genre and
pulp extremism. Known for extreme subject
matter and highly artificial visuals, Sono –
directing а script by Aaron Hendry and Reza
Sixo Safai - here explores his own version of
American post-apocalypse fantasy.

Mixing futurism, horror and cod-western,
the film stars Cage as a captured bank robber
sent оп а mission by the ‘Governor’ (Bill
Moseley), the stetsoned overlord of shanty
settlement ‘Samurai Town’, to retrieve his
missing granddaughter (actor-dancer Sofia
Boutella, from Gaspar Noé’s Climax). To
raise the stakes, Cage must wear a leather
suit packed with explosives concentrated at
particular delicate points — affording us the
thrill of hearing him bellow *Testicllllllle!" at
full operatic intensity.

With production design suggesting a
retro-tacky theme park modelled on Duran

Duran’s “Wild Boys” video, the film treats us
to choir numbers, nuke-mutated heavies and
flashbacks in screaming primary colours,
with a silently scowling Boutella eventually
getting her own high-kicking action
moment. There’s clearly Social Studies
dissertation material here on a Japanese
auteur recycling pop Americana to his own
purposes - although conceivably Sono is just
taking the paycheck and having a load of fun
at the material’s expense. Cage matches him
by providing all the bug-eyed, teeth-baring
maximalism you'd expect.

‘Gagarine’ is a real place, or was.
Called after pioneering Russian cosmonaut
Yuri Gagarin, it was the name ofa high-rise
housing estate on the outskirts of Paris,
inaugurated in 1963at the height of French
Communism. By the timethe project was
demolished in 2019, the utopian dream had
long faded - but French writing-directing
team Fanny Liotard and Jérémy Trouilh saw
an opportunity to make their feature debut.
Gagarine, which they filmed there while the
buildings were dismantled around them,
restores the mundane sprawl of concrete and
glass to its cosmic roots.

Charismatic newcomer Alseni Bathily

ee ae eee REVIEWEDIHISMONIH ж. J .
Directedby j “ Directedby ROSE PLAYS JULIE
Quentin а _ FannyLiatard, Directedby
Dupieux Directedby Jérémy Trouilh Christine Directedby
Starring SionSono Starring Molloy, Malgorzata
Grégoire Starring AlseniBathily, JoeLawlor Szukowska,
Ludig, Adéle Nicolas Cage, LynaKhoudri Starring MichalEnglert
Exarchopoulos SofiaBoutella OpensSept24 AnnSkelly, Starring Alec
OpensSept 17 OpensSept 17 CertTBC OrlaBrady Utgoff, Maja
CertTBC CertTBC 7/10 OpensSepti7 Ostaszewska
8/10 6/10 Cert15 OpensOct15
8/10 CertTBC
7/10

106-UNCUT- NOVEMBER 2021

plays teenager Youri, from an African immigrant
background, named after the spaceman and
besotted with space travel, who decides to stay
put when Gagarine's residents are cleared out.
He turns his apartment into a self-contained
capsule within a space station – design tricks,
crafty cinematography and dazzling aerial shots
making the estate, inside and out, resemblea
2001 construction implanted in the suburban
landscape. Up-and-coming Lyna Khoudri – soon
in Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch — plays
Yuri's Roma friend Diana, with French cinema's
indispensable lord of misrule Denis Lavant
presiding over the local junkyard.

Gagarine mixes French urban realism (in the
mode of La Haine and the recent Les Misérables)
and starry-eyed fantasy — with some of the
feelgood sentiment associated with the Amelie
school. Despite its occasional emotional
obviousness, this is a boldly imaginative,
technically dazzling work. Liatard and Trouilh
missed out on the limelight last year, with
Gagarine selected for the Cannes festival that was
cancelled owing to Covid. But it seems a dead cert
that we'll see a lot more of them in future.

Irish filmmakers Christine
Molloy and Joe Lawlor have for some time been
one of the most singular forces in UK cinema,
under their own names or the collective tag
Desperate Optimists. They’re an experimental
proposition: their debut feature Helen emerged
from their history of community art projects
and was made with non-actors, while essay/
documentary Further Beyond was a multi-layered
musing on Chilean history, Irish exile and the life
story of Lawlor’s mother.

Ostensibly a straighter proposition, Rose Plays
Julie is, like Helen, a fiction about a woman
searching for her origins and identity. Rose
(Ann Skelly) is a young veterinary student who
discovers that her birth motheris an actress

named Ellen (Orla Brady). What Rose learns

from Ellen sends her ona mission — as ‘Julie’,

her name before she was adopted - involving a
dig with a celebrity archeologist (Aidan Gillen,
silkily troubling in his third film for the duo).
Thingsslide gradually and uneasily almost

into conventional thriller territory, leading to
anending that you could see either as cathartic

or downright questionable. But overall, the

film has the complexity and dark playfulness
characteristic of the duo’s work, with a touch

of Roeg-esque fragmentation in the telling. As

the elusive, shape-shifting heroine, Skelly —
currently in Joss Whedon TV series The Nevers —is
extraordinary, a quietly unnerving presence, with
only her voiceover internal monologue letting

us know for sure what she’s thinking – although
perhaps we can’t quite believe that either.

For several
years, director Małgorzata Szumowska and
cinematographer Michael Englert have been the
most productive force in Polish cinema, with an
unpredictable and cosmopolitan output ranging
from Juliette Binoche drama Elles to recent US-set
religious-cult drama The Other Lamb. Their
latest, Never Gonna Snow Again, is among their
most thoroughly Polish but may be the title that
really marks their international breakthrough.

Alec Utgoff plays Zhenya, a young mystery man
from the East - ominously near Chernobyl, in
fact - who arrives at a Polish gated community to
work as a masseur. He passes from household to
household attending to the variously spoiled and
disconsolate residents (including eco-conscious
widow Ewa, played by Agata Kulesza, from Pawel
Pawlikowkski's Ida and Cold War). Everyone
wants something different from the distant,
gentle, oddly sexless Zhenya - absolution, calm,
some kind of magic. But nuclear exposure seems
to havelefthim with telekinetic powers, even
made himan earthly angel of death.

What's fascinating is how ambivalent the
filmremains throughout, sustaining a mood
of hovering unease as it proceeds in deadpan
fashion through its borderline-satirical
vignettes — with brief eruptions of outright visual
weirdness, like a show-stopping Halloween
parade. Meanwhile, Utgoff - resembling a baby
Patrick Swayze - has the sort of mysteriously
absent presence that's like a magnetic void at
the film’s centre. Whether you view this as an
eco-parable, a satire ofan East that’s turned into
aversion of the bourgeois West, or a mystically
tinged existential comedy about human need
and folly, this elegantly executed number is
Szumowska and Elgart’s most alluring film.
Assuming the world is still open to the prospect
of leftfield discoveries from Eastern Europe, this
has the makings ofa genuine cult success. ©
JONATHANROMNEY

EUER

ALSO OUT...

OPENS SEPTEMBER 10
Thisre-release of Joseph Losey's
unnerving psychological drama
form 1963 isasharedfinesthour
for DirkBogarde and JamesFox.
Scripted by Harold Pinter, it remains
British cinema's most trenchant
commentonclass, and a dark
classic for the ages.

OPENS SEPTEMBER 17
Indefatigable documentarist
Mark Cousins returns with а
contemplation of the gaze -in film,
inartandinhis ownlife.

TheManySaints
OfNewark

OPENS SEPTEMBER 22

Whether or not The Sopranos
really needed a prequel, this

one haspedigree: directed by
series veteran Alan Taylor and
co-written by David Chase, it
features Michael Gandolfini (son
ofthelate, great James) as the
young Tony Soprano, with Vera
Farmiga ashis mother Livia.

OPENS SEPTEMBER 30

007 finally shows up after cinema's
mostnotorious Covid delay, with
Phoebe Waller-Bridge co-writing
and Bohemian Rhapsody's

Rami Malek stepping into the
arch-villain role.

OPENS OCTOBER8

Ignore the cute English title -

this Swiss dramais a smart,
acerbic offering, with two of
Europe's bestactors, Nina Hoss
andLars Eidinger, perfectly
matchedin adrama aboutsibling
tensions andloyalties.

NOVEMBER 2021 + UNCUT · 107

NATFINKELSTEIN

Enduring
musical
miracle

The Velvet

1 X Underground

APPLETV

WITHanoeuvre
devoted to the
poison, perversity
and paranoia of the
20th century anda
passion for telling
tales ofambition,
fameand oblivion,
you couldn't imagine a director
better suited to a Velvet Underground
documentary than Todd Haynes.
Butthough you might have hoped
for some occult, oneiric version of
thestory told via fabulist casting,
phantasmagoric CGI and a little
puppetry, The Velvet Underground:
A Documentary Film by Todd Haynes
isastoryas straight asits title.

Understanding the challenge of
making a movie about a band three
of whose members are dead, and
wholeft almost no live footage,
Haynes has cast the net far and wide
across the archives of the world for
B-roll. Indeed the film is dedicated
tothe memory ofJonas Mekas,

+= = MN APPLE фени FEN.

108-UNCUT-NOVEMBER2021

founder of New York's Film-Maker's
Cooperative, who died during
production and at whose early-'60s
screenings Warhol began to cast
his Factory superstars. The result is
aloving homage to the Lower East
Sideanda split-screen secret history
of1960s American underground
cinema from Stan Brakhage, Marie
Menken and Maya Deren, to Jack
Smith and Kenneth Anger.

And - overwhelmingly of course —

Andy Warhol. The film opens

in asquall of Cale viola, a frenzied,
channel-hopping montage of

1963, and then a young Lou gazing
dreamily into Andy’s impassive lens,
as though seeing clearly through
the storm, steadfastly focused on...
what? Riches and fame (high school
bandmates and his sister recalla
steely determination to become

“a famous rock star”)? Literary
immortality as predicted by college
mentor Delmore Schwartz? Or
simply his own chemical and sexual
oblivion (he seemed compelled

to shock his school and college
friends with squalid adventures

in search of degradation)?

The first scene features a spiffy
Cale appearing on I’ve Got A Secret,
the early-’60s CBS panel show, asa
token avant-garde wacko, fresh from
an 18-hour performance of Satie.
Butif Haynes’ earlier investigations
into rock history were propelled by
genuine mystery and loss – who
killed Karen Carpenter? What
happened to David Bowiein the
'8os? Who on earth is Bob Dylan? —
The Velvet Underground can feela
little like a diligent, almost academic
tribute to the cross-cultural
crosstown traffic of mid-'60s NYC,
rather than an urgent enquiry into
an enduring musical miracle.

Certainly Uncut-reading VU-
heads will be abundantly familiar
with the story of Lou as Pickwick’s
jobbing songwriter meeting the
conservatoire rebel Cale and
together discovering the negative

ев»»»»»хХҡЗ Зэ--------

zone where Во Diddley backs
La Monte Young and garage-
band primitivism meets
transcendent drone. Mary
Woronov and Amy Taubin
areon hand torecall theearly
days ofthe Factory (there's
some marvellous footage

ofa wacked-out superstar
tarot reading) and Warhol's
ambition to make the Velvets,
now incorporating the

lunar glamour of Nico, the
house band at “the biggest
discothequein the world".
And you'll know ofthe
dismal sales, disastrous
tours and bitter feuds that
followed four of the greatest
albums ever made.

There’s little fresh light cast
on the band dynamics. Lou
is described as behaving like
anihilistic three-year-old
throughout (who Nico and
Andy were nevertheless
besotted with), and though
Mo Tucker admits the band
lost something without Cale,
she has little perspective
on the way she and Sterling
Morrison meekly acquiesced
to his sacking. Lou, Nico and
Sterling are of course unavailable for
comment, while Doug Yule seems to
have chosen not to contribute.

The film really comes alive with
the input of Jonathan Richman -
the St Paul of the Velvets church,
still beatifically mystified at their
majesty all these years later. In truth,
asimple two hours of Richman
talking about just a few of the “60 to
70” Velvets shows he saw would bea
beautifully compelling film in itself.
He’s spied, Where’s Wally-style,
in striped T-shirtin a 1968 Boston
Tea Party audience he winningly
describes as composed of “Harvard
professors, fashion models from
New York, honest-to-God juvenile
delinquents, bike gangs, Grateful
Dead fans and nerds like myself...”

In the absence of much other
musical or critical perspective, it’s
fitting that it’s Richman who comes
closest to capturing the magic of the
band in full flight (“It was like being
in the presence of Michelangelo!”).
Very slowly he describes how, at the
end of the swirling, roiling storm
of “Sister Ray”, the band would
abruptly cut off, the speakers would
hum and “the audience would be
dead silent for f-i-v-e seconds... And
then they would applaud. The Velvet
Underground had hypnotised them
one more time.”

The Velvet Undergroundwillbe
releasedinselected cinemas and
premiere globally on Apple TV+
onOctober 15, 2021

FE The passing of Charlie
Wattsin August inspired an
overdue appreciation of the
drummer - the member of
any band who copes with
theleast recognition, the
tightest margins for error
and (not infrequently)

the most mockery.

Watts is unsurprisingly much cited in this
genial celebration of unsung timekeepers:
contributors include specialists in metal
(Nicko McBrain), prog (Nick Mason), and

the jack-of-all-trades (Jim Keltner). A hefty
smattering of punk rockers – Rat Scabies,
Topper Headon, Clem Burke - reminds that
even the most wilfully ramshackle outfits
need someone to hold everything together.
“Tfthey got lost,” says Headon, "they'd

turn to me." ANDREWMUELLER

COUNT

MUNROFILMS

J Mascisis not regarded
as one of rock’s more
expansive raconteurs:
accordingly, a Dinosaur
Jr documentary might
] loomas something of
achore. However,
Philipp Reichenheim's
в си 4 film tells Dinosaur Jr's
turbulent story well, deftly balancing
Mascis's somnolent deadpan with the
more loquacious recollections of his
bandmates Lou Barlow and Murph. Kim
Gordon, Henry Rollins, Kevin Shields and
Bob Mould are among a distinguished
chorus of fan-contributors fleshing out
what becomes a heartwarming fable of
thetriumph ofthe otherwise wilfully
unemployable. ANDREWMUELLER

TRAFALGARRELEASING

Aquarter ofacentury

on, this two-hour doc
offers up a giddy fans’-eye
view of the shows that
came to define not just

the Gallagher brothers’
impeccable brand of
swagger, but the Britpop
era itself. Through archive

e |

dasis

ж cemas тигет
PUE

Fabs, WAGs
andaguru:
TheBeatles
inRishikesh
"uM

footage and the occasional reenactment,
it conjures up a forgotten world of live music
inapre-internet age — from queuing for
tickets at record stores to recording gigs off
the radio – with myth-making commentary
from those in the crowd as well as deadpan
memories from Noel.

Cinema release from September 23
followed by live album and DVD/Blu-ray
in November. LEONIECOOPER

HBO

It’s tempting to blame

Woodstock '99 on

Limp Bizkit and other

nu-metal pinheads who
UPS exacerbated the event's
ЖШШЕ toxicity. But director Garret
2— "7 Price’s documentary
presents the iconic
festival's flameout as the
apotheosis ofits era's most putrid aspects,
fromthe greed epitomised by the $4 water
bottles to the cynicism suggested by the sight
of attendees revelling in human excrement
as Kid Rock struts in a white fur coat. Add
riots, arson and multiple sexual assaults and
deaths, and you havea thoroughly horrific
weekend even without Fred Durst.
JASONANDERSON

Dinosaur Jr:rise
of the wilfully
unemployable

О AS spiritual and musical reawakenings go, it has
to be said that The Beatles’ Indian love affair got off
toashakystart. In Richard Lester's 1965 film Help!,
we see the Fabs become embroiled with a sinister
Eastern cult who set out to sacrifice a female
Beatles fan to their goddess. While hindsight
hasn't been kind to Help!, it also allows us to get the
full measure of the chain of events it would trigger
on the musicians at the centre of the enterprise.

As with his 2005 book The Beatles In India, Ajoy Bose’s directorial
debut [co-director Peter Compton] suspends current censoriousness to
catapult us toa world where it wasn’t unforgivable to get things wrong
about other cultures as long as you were trying to get it right. Early
on, it’s the blossoming friendship between George Harrison and Ravi
Shankar that provides the main source of warmth. What started with
George picking up an unattended sitar on the Help! set fast-forwards to
amomentous encounter when Asian Music Circle Founders Ayanaand
Patricia Angani invited The Beatles for dinner with Shankar at their
Hampstead home. Decades later, their son Shankara recalls it was
Paul McCartney who seemed out of his depth in comparison to George
— who, Pattie Boyd noted, must have known Shankar “ina past life".

Perhaps for George, Indian music offered a space well away from
what must have sometimes felt like John and Paul's musical fiefdom.
Certainly, it massively increased his cultural stock, both within
and without The Beatles. Had George not spearheaded The Beatles’
rebirth as spiritual seekers, it’s impossible to conceive of the ‘White
Album’, most of which was written at the Rishikesh retreat where
the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi taught transcendental meditation. Bose
manages to locate fellow disciples for vivid recollections set amid the
ruins of the once-thriving Ashram, among them teacher Nick Nugent,
who excitably recalls a rooftop concert on the Ashram bungalow that
predated the more famous one on the Apple building a year later.

Elsewhere, there’s a welcome corrective to pernicious inaccuracies
that permeate most accounts of The Beatles’ sudden departure from
Rishikesh, with eminent Fabologists Mark Lewisohn and Steve
Turner both emphasising the Machiavellian machinations of hanger-
on “Magic” Alex Mardas, who persuaded Lennon that the Maharishi
was guilty of sexual impropriety towards a young woman in the
Ashram. And even though Lennon wrote “Sexy Sadie” as they waited
for their taxis, subsequent interviews with McCartney and Harrison
revealed that both were regretful of the manner in which their retreat
ended - Harrison even seeking the Maharishi's forgiveness.

But perhaps the most pleasing harmonic balance established by The
Beatles And India only truly reveals itself near the end, as an array of
Indian musicians try to express just how the group's music impacted
upon them. What begins problematically doesn't have to end that
way. Over 50 years later, what survives is gratitude on all sides that
The Beatles and the Indian musicians, teachers and fans they met
got to be part of each other's story. Others may put it in more florid
terms, but none manage to doso quite as resonantly as musician Neil
Mukherjee, who attempts to explain the effect that The Beatles had on
him thus: “The world would have been, like, so shit without them.” ©

NOVEMBER 2021 - UNCUT : 109

COLINHARR; JOSEPHHENDERSON

Obituaries

Fondly remembered this month...

Folkabilly queen
(1953-2021)

T wasironicthat Nanci Griffith's biggest

hit came with a cover of Julie Gold's

“From A Distance"; her true forte was as

astorytelling singer-songwriter whose

own potent compositions ranged from the
sugary to the searing. “Your best materialis what
you can see with your own eyes and what you can
feel with your own heart,” she said.

Among her most unflinching songs were “Not
Innocent Enough”, a protest about a Tennessee
prisoner wrongfully executed for the murder of
a police officer, and “The Loving Kind”, abouta
couple whose mixed-race marriage led to their
incarceration. Many of her songs were covered
byotherartists, including Kathy Mattea, who
hada huge hit with “Love At The Five And Dime",
and Suzy Bogguss, who took “Outbound Plane”
into the country charts.

Born in Texas to beatnik parents, she grew upin
Austin and taught herself to play guitar asa child.
By her early teens she had won asongwriting
competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival. Her
debut album There’s A Light Beyond These Woods
was released in 1978 and established her asa
weaver of smalltown vignettes set to music that
spanned country and folk. It led to Rolling Stone
dubbing her “the queen of folkabilly”, a label
which she was happy to embrace. “It just kind of
stuck, but to be honest I think it works,” she said.

Other fine albums followed, including Once In
A Very Blue Moon (1984), Lone Star State Of Mind
(1987) and Other Voices, Other Rooms (1993),

NanciGriffith:
her shows
mixedsongs,
musichistory
andpolitics

acollection of covers with guest appearances
by Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris and John Prine
that won hera Grammy. She called her backing
band the Blue Moon Orchestra and her concerts
endearingly mixed songs with long discursions
into folk music history, personal anecdote and
political observation. She also toured with
members of Buddy Holly’s Crickets.

For awhile she lived in Ireland, where she had
abig following, but her main home was a farm
near Nashville, where she kept a menagerie of
animals. Her final album, Intersection, appeared
in2012, after which she disappeared into semi-
retirement far too soon.

JONSUPER/REDFERNS, FRYDERYK GABOWICZ/PICTURE ALLIANCE VIA GETTY IMAGES

UB40 sax player
(1959-2021)

WhenBrian Travers picked upthe
saxophone in 1978, unemployment
was onits way towards three million.
Figuring that he and his Brummie
mates had “more chance ofa hit
record than getting a job", they
formedaband - апа ћеігпате
picked itself. He played with ОВдо for
40 years, scoring 16 Top 10 albums,
three of which reached No1.

Country singer-songwriter
(1936-2021)

Bornin Kentucky, Hallarrivedin
Nashville asa 50-dollars-a-week
songwriterin 1964. Nicknamed
“The Storyteller”, his “Harper Valley
PTA” gave Jeannie CRiley aNo1

hit and his songs were recorded by
Johnny Cash, George Jones, Loretta
Lynnand Waylon Jennings, among
others. He also recorded more than
30 albums in his own right.

Iron Butterfly drummer
(1941-2021)

110-UNCUT-NOVEMBER2021

Ron Bushy played one ofrock's most
famous – or perhapsinfamous –
drumsoloson thesidelong title track
о топ Butterfly's 1968 album In-A-
Gadda-Da-Vida. The only member to
play onallsixoftheband’s albums,
hecontinued to drum with the group
through various break-ups and
reunions for the rest of his Ше.

Music journalist and
‘wife’ of Doors singer
(1946-2021)

Patricia Kennealy was the editor
ofJazz& Pop magazine when

she “married” Jim Morrisonin
1970 ina pagan ritual knownas
“handfasting”. The wedding was

subsequently depicted in Oliver
Stone’s movie The Doors, inwhich
Kennealy was played by Kathleen
Quinlan. After the film’s release,

she wrotea bestselling memoir
chronicling their liaison in vivid
detail. Shealso wrote fantasy novels.

Rambunctious record mogul
(1933-2021)

Asthehead of CBS in the 1980s,
Walter Yetnikoffdidn’t bother
soft-soaping his artists. He said Paul
Simon was “pretentious and self-
important” and told Keith Richards
to “fuck offand get another blood
transfusion”. He relateditallin his
very readable if not entirely reliable
2004 memoir Howling At The Moon.

Hip-hop producer
(1968-2021)

Asamember of Bad Boy's *Hitmen"
production team during the '90s, Carl
“Chucky” Thompson worked with
label boss Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs
and specialised in underpinning
contemporary R&Band hip-hop
productions with slick samples of
70s and’8o0ssoul tracks. His credits

include records for Mary J Blige and
The Notorious BIG.

Beatles harpist
(1928-2021)

When Sheila Bromberg arrived at
Abbey Road in March 1967, she had
noideashe was about to become
the firstwoman to play on a Beatles
record and didn’teven recognise
Paul McCartney. As wellas playing
the harp on “She’s Leaving Home",
her other session work included the
Bee Gees, Dusty Springfield and
Heatwave’s “Boogie Nights”.

Hendrix’s Foxy Lady
(1940-2021)

After relationships with Little Willie
John and Sam Cooke, “Faye” Pridgon
met Jimi Hendrix atthe Apollo,
Harlem, in1963 and became his
lover and muse. She was said to be
the “sweet little love maker” in “Foxy
Lady” and may also have inspired
“Love Or Confusion”, “Can You See
Me” and “Fire”. She recorded her
own blues album for Atlantic in 1972,
butit remains unreleased.

JOHNNY VENTURA
Salsasinger
(1940-2021)

Bornin Dominica, Juan de Dios
becameaninternationalsalsa star
after changing his name to Johnny
Ventura. Asasingerand bandleader
herecorded more than 60 albums, for
which he received a Latin Grammy

Lifetime Achievement Awardin2006. |

Bythen hehad turned politician,
serving as mayor of Santo Domingo,
capital ofthe Dominican Republic.

LES VANDYKE AKA
JOHNNY WORTH
Prolific hitmaker
(1931-2021)

John Worsley began his career asa
singer but turned songwriter using
two pseudonyms, starting with
Adam Faith’s 1959 No1 “What Do
You Want?”. Faith wenton to record
dozens ofhis songs and he also wrote
Eden Kane’s 1961 chart-topper “Well
IAsk You” and Jet Harris and Tony
Meehan's 1963 hit “Applejack”.

STUART LYON
London promoter
(1944-2021)

Known to generations of London
concert-goers as *UncleStu",

Lyon began booking acts at the
Hampstead Country Clubin the
late'6os, including Elton John,
David Bowie and BlackSabbath.
He wenton to promote shows at the
100 Club and RonnieScott's, and
asanavid world music fan brought
FelaKuti, Miriam Makeba and Hugh
Masekela to London.

BOB FISH
Dartssinger
(1949-2021)

BobFish cameto prominence
singing with pub-rock stalwarts the
Mickey Jupp Band before joining
doo-wop revivalists Darts in 1976.
One of four vocalists in the original
nine-piece lineup, he sang the
falsetto parts on their six Top 10 hits,
including “Daddy Cool”/“The Girl
Can’t Help It”, “Come Back My Love",
“Tt’s Raining” and “Duke Of Earl."

KENNY MALONE
Nashville session drummer
(1938-2021)

Hailing from Denver, Kenny Malone
spent 14 years in the US Navy Band,
before moving to Nashvillein1970
tobecomea prolific A-list session
drummer withauniquestyle,
combining sticks and brushes with
hand percussion. He played on

Obituaries

recordings by Emmylou Harris, Dolly
Parton, Merle Haggard and Johnny
Cash among countless others.

MIKEFINNEGAN
Hammond maestro
(1945-2021)

MikeFinnegan'srecording
debutcouldnot have been more
auspicious, playing Hammond
organon "Rainy Day, Dream Away"
and “Still Raining, Still Dreaming"
on Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland.
He recorded a number of solo
albums, butit was asa heavyweight
sessioner that he left his mark,
playing onalbums by Bonnie Raitt,
Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joe Cocker,
Tracy Chapman and many others.

OLLIWISDOM
Goth rocker
(1958-2021)

Olli Wisdom began his career
singing with Bristol glam/goth
rockers Specimen and later founded
famous goth night The Batcave at
London’s Gargoyle Club, whose
regulars included Nick Cave and
RobertSmith. Wisdom wenton to
make psy-trance musicunderthe
name Space Tribe.

SIR VICTOR
UWAIFO

Nigerian highlife star
1941-2021

ICTORUWAIFO
began his career
asa fast-jiving axe
hero who gloried
inthenickname
“Guitar Boy”, and ended upas
Commissioner For Arts, Culture &
Tourism in the regional government
of Nigeria’s Edo state. Bornin Benin
City, Nigeria, he began playing the
guitar at the age of 12and shot to
local prominence with his band
The Melody Maestros, whose 1965
hit “Joromi” was said to be the first
recordin West Africa to earn a gold
disc. Anupdated version of highlife
with twanging electric guitarlines
replacing the traditional acoustic

DEETEETHOMAS
Kool & The Gang sax player
(1951-2021)

Dennis Thomas wasa founder
member of The Jazziacs with Robert
and Ronald Bellin Jersey Cityin
1964. Five years later they became
Kool & The Gang, with Thomas
acting as master of ceremonies at
their live shows as they became
one ofthe biggest names of the
disco era with hits including
“Celebration”, “Jungle Boogie”,
“Steppin’ Out” and “Cherish”.

DENNIS CAPLINGER
Bluegrass
multi-instrumentalist
(1963-2021)

Dennis Caplinger’s fiddle playing on
Eric Clapton and JJ Cale's 2006 album
The Road To Escondido earned

hima Grammy Award, buthe was
alsoagifted banjo, mandolin and
dobro player, which earned him the
nickname "Lord oftheStrings". He

style, thesong usheredinanew
dance that Uwaifo called “akwete”.
One of the first West African acts
to find an international audience,
he toured Europe and Americain
the1970s, playing the guitar with
his teeth, behind his neck and even
with his feet. He recorded a string of
albums for Polydor throughout the
late '7o0sand'80sas Victor Uwaifo
&TheTitibitis, and later opened
ahotel, recording studio and TV
studioin Benin City, all named after
his breakthrough hit “Joromi”.
Atrue maverick whowasalsoa
professional wrestler, a sculptor and
auniversity lecturer, in recent years
Uwaifo’s vintage tracks found anew
audience via crate-digging labels
suchas Soundway, which released
the compilation Guitar-Boy Superstar
in 2008. His knighthood wasself-
conferred, but he was an officer of
the Order Of The Niger, the highest
civilian honour Nigeria can bestow.

INGE GINSBERG
Heavy metal grandma
(1922-2021)

Inge Ginsberg escaped the
Holocaust, becamea spy for US
intelligence, andinthe 1950s made
her way to Hollywood, where she
wrote songs for Dean Martin and
Nat King Cole. At the age of 93, she
formed the heavy metal band Inge
&The Tritone Kings; Heavy Metal
Grandma, adocumentary film about
her, premiered at SXSW in 2018.

FRITZMcINTYRE
Simply Red keyboardist
(1958-2021)

A founder member of Simply Red

in 1985, Fritz McIntyre played
keyboards and sang backing vocals
onthe band’s first fivealbums and
co-wrote many of their songs with
Mick Hucknall. He leftin 1995 and
becamea born-again Christian,
releasing asolo album ofevangelical
material and acting as music director

sessioned for everyone from Chris atachurch in Florida.

Hillman to One Direction and led his і ——

own band called Bluegrass Etc. ERICWAGNER
Doom metalsinger

PAULJOHNSON
House producer
(1971-2021)

Chicago-born PaulJohnson began
DJing when barely into his teens

and by 16 was producing tracks for
Chicago house labels. Confined toa
wheelchair since 1987, his biggest hit
came with 1999’s house anthem “Get
Get Down”. He was namechecked in
thesong “Teachers” by Daft Punk,
who cited himas avitalinfluence.

(1959-2021)

Eric Wagner formed doom metal
pioneers Trouble in Chicagoin 1979,
and remained lead vocalist until
2008, with onlyathree year breakin
the late ’90s. In 2012, he teamed up

with other former Trouble members

to form The Skull, named after
Trouble’s second album. He died
from Covid-related causes during
theband’s current US tour. ©

NIGEL WILLIAMSON

NOVEMBER 2021 - UNCUT : 111

ANALOG AFRICA, DPAPICTURE ALLIANCE / ALAMY STOCKPHOTO

TVTIMES/GETTYIMAGES;GIEKNAEPS/GETTY IMAGES

Emailletters@uncut.co.uk.
Or tweet us at twitter.com/uncutmagazine

Ever since the first show Isaw with
Momin Denver in ’94 (the amazing
culmination ofall the years listening
to herscratchy vinyls) to the last with
PopinSeattlein 2019, a Stones
concert was like a grand pagan
spectacle, a throwback to a more
legendary, sophisticated timein
rock and pop music. But beneath the
massed woo-woos on “Sympathy
For The Devil", the fireworks, video-
screens and Vegas glare, Charlie
Watts was the dignified centre.
During band introductions he was
always introduced last, to the
loudest cheers and applause, Keith
and Ronnie genuflecting to his
drum-stand. Everyone knew his
value. He wasn't an atom-bomb
smasher like John Bonham or
human octopus like Keith Moon, he
just knew the right tempo and beat
to complement Mick and Keith's
songs - though he did have his
stand-out moments. Listen to his
Indian tabla on “Factory Girl” or the
fills on “Mother’s Little Helper” and
“Loving Cup”.

Now Charlie's gone. Sure, the
music endures, rough, gritty and
alive, but that beautiful contrast
Charlie provided the band - dapper,
elegant, honest white hair, the only
one still married to the same spouse
since the'60s – is no longer. He was
a model for ageing with energy,
grace and style. With his death an
amazing, unforgettable saga of live
and recorded music and fandom
just doesn’t feel the same any more,
and asection of my life has come
toaclose. Charlie, you’ve gone
home to your horses and Shirley
for good now. RIP our dear, dear
Charlie Watts.

Stephen Conn, New Mexico, USA

... My favourite Charlie moment
must be the interview with David
Hepworth fora “25 years of the
Stones” film the BBC made in 1986.

Charlie gives him a really bumpy
ride, ending with the classic line
after being asked how 25 years
with the band has been: “...five
years playing and 20 years
hanging around!”

Thankfully preserved for all on
YouTube. RIP Charlie.

ie Rhodes, C

Ster

...Iwasa 15-year-old kid looking at
music magazines in a liquor/
convenience store in a Sacramento

112-UNCUT-NOVEMBER2021

The Stones’
“dignified
centre”:
Charlie Watts
plays Ready
SteadyGo!,
London, 1964

suburb in 1965. The place was
empty except for me and the clerk
when in walked Bill Wyman, Brian
Jones and Charlie Watts. Of course,
Ihad to shake their hands...

t шағасероок

..As a guitarist who loves studying
drummers, I'll always remember
playing congas along to
Charlieon the Stripped version
of “Wild Horses" just before I
heard the sad news he’d died.
Ilike the relaxed way he waits
and starts playing a minute

into the song. Even if you're
notadrummer, try drumming
along anyway - you really get
anappreciation of how good
people like Charlie Watts are.
Thanks for sharing your
memories and thoughts of
Charlie. Please continue to
send them in. We hope we
did him justice elsewhere in
this issue. [MB]

I enjoyed every word of Will
Sergeant's memoir and can't help
but feel I’ve been to Melling and
back. Thanks to Michael Bonner for
hisarticle [August issue], whose
praise for the book persuaded me to
rush ahead and buy the UK edition

from Blackwell's. Bunnyman, in

>) Bunnyman

| WillSergeant
atBelgium’s
Werchter
Festival,
July 5,1987

/

short, issuperb. Woollybacks,
povos, keks, nudgers, liggers.

Iggy Popisaninfluence, who Will
admits toligging with some fellow
fans after a wild performance at
Eric's. Not much time passes before
he too suffers his admirers’
intrusions, as he must have in '87
when the Bunnymen played in

Evanston (where I lived) and
stayed at the Orrington Hotel
(where I worked).

Overjoyed to say the least,
Imet some of the bandin the
hotel bar and eagerly handed
but my business card to anyone
Willing to take it. Will obliged
ine with an autograph and
doodle on the back of one card,
which] put backin my shirt
pocket. Later on, heading
toward the door for home,
Iheard the sound of an
Englishman - two, actually,
one of whom stood very tall —
checking inat the front desk.
Iintroduced myself, offered

assistance and gave them each
асаа. When I finally did get
homeon that memorable day, I
rifled through the contents of my
shirt pocket only to learn Га given
away Will's autograph, possibly to
Bill Drummond.

David Mathews, Chicago
Amazing story, David! Yes, Bill is
very tall...

TOOMUCHTOOSOON?

It’s mid-August and I’ve sat down to
read the latest issue of Uncut, which
turns out to be the October 2021
issue. I thought the weather was
abit autumnal, but October? I could
understand it being listed as the
September issue, but really! I’m

not complaining too much - I find
maybe half the music I love via
Uncut — but I wonder how much I've
missed because my sub-prime brain
cannot hold on to the information of
forthcoming releases for six weeks
after reading about them? Honestly,
if you write a glowing of review ofa
newalbum, I’msure those artists
wouldn’t mind the review being
printed a couple of weeks before
release instead of a couple of
months. Anyway, I've taken to
writing these things down in my
calendar. So I'm hoping the Steve
Gunn album is as good as you say
when | finally hear it on Friday,

and I hope! don't forget about the
Public Service Broadcasting release
at the end ofnext month.
JimDonoghue, London

PAST GLORIES

Living in America, my Uncut
subscription has been delayed at
times during the pandemic, then

a few arriving all at once. Istumbled
across the October 2020 issue and
just wanted to thank you for the
wonderful interview with Bill
Callahan. I don’t think I’ve ever read
words so accurate about marriage
and parenting. He’s a genius.

The deep dive into the making of
“Paranoid” took me back to my first
concert in the 70s when I saw Black
Sabbath. An altering experience for
measan adolescent, my world
expanded! Thanks for the magic of
your mag and the mind-opening CDs.
Earnie Seiler, Indialantic, FL
Thanks for writing, Earnie.
Apologies to everyone who’s
experienced delays receiving Uncut
owing to the pandemic and thanks
foryour continued patience.

PAT'SENTERTAINMENT

May I simply suggest, Pat Metheny's
My Life In Music [October issue]
contained just about the best
choices ever!

Andrew Wilson, theHighlands

CROSSWORD

Avinylcopy ofLaLuz'sself-titled album

HOWTOENTER

Thelettersintheshadedsquares form an anagram of asong by The Rolling Stones.
When you've worked out whatitis, email your answer to: competitions@uncut.co.uk.
Thefirstcorrectentry pickedat random will wina prize. Closing date: Wednesday,
October 20, 2021. This competition is only open to European residents.

CLUESACROSS

1The Kinksontheroad, butthetourhas
cometoacloseatthis number (4-3-6)
9Thetruthis that both David Bowieand
James Brownhadalbumsandsingles by
this title(7)

10+28D Movements forsocial change well
coveredon newalbum by TheSpecials (7-5)
11+27А Fame doesnotalterThe Stone Roses
(4-2-5)

12(See31across)

r — Heartbeatwasanalbum
collaboration between Van Morrison and
The Chieftains (5)

14 Band whocame From Nowherewith their
debutalbumin 1966 (6)

16 HowaboutaBeeGeesalbum? Justa
thought (4)

17Third___ Band, opened The Rolling
Stones’ freeconcertin Hyde Parkin 1969 (3)
19 Teenage Fanclubalbumis continually on
for ouramusement (7-6)

23 “I Ain’tSaying My Goodbyes” toalt.rock
musicianTom___(3)

24 (See4 down)

27(See11 across)

29 Elbowhavealookofembarrassment
with debutsingle(3)

31+12A Idlesalbumnotevenslightlyin
stereo(5-4)

32Intendedtoincludesome music from
PearlJam(3)

33Scottishduo___ AndCrywith'8oshit
*LabourOfLove" (3)
34UKhip-hoprecordlabel — Street
formedin1985(3)

35 Oneattemptfromthreemadeata

song by the Smashing Pumpkins (3)

36 Arriveatthis place with Oleta Adams’
cover ofa Brenda Russell song (3-4)

37 Nasty, unpleasant personindicated by
TheWalkmenin*The ”(3)

CLUESDOWN

1Eighteenth studioalbum hassomehow
markedstart for The Stranglers (4-7)

2 Tough way for John Mayall torecordan
albuminthe'60s (1-4-4)

3Livecomeback performanceby Interpol
(4)

4*24A Paul Wellerattimeshavingto move
quickly (4-2-5)

5 Alt.rockband who hadahit with cover of
King Harvest’s “Dancing InThe Moonlight”
(9)

6Acetrioreformed for Madonnaalbum(7)
7!’'dthreetoarrange for Catfish AndThe
Bottlemenalbum (3-4)
8Curesongwithahook, whichallsoundsa
bit fishy (5)

15 AgreedisastrouslytoincludeaSwans
album (5)

18(See20down)

20:18DNomoreloud music pleaseafter
Apollo440(4-3-4)

21+30D "Sosad,sosad, sometimes she feels
sosad",1971(7-3)

22Betty —— — ,had'6oshitwith"The
ShoopShoopSong (It’s In His Kiss)” (7)
25PinkFloydmusicwith arhythmicbeat(5)
26“Imissthe_____ somuch,Imissmywife",
from EltonJohn’s *RocketMan" (5)

28 (See10across)

30 (See21down)

ANSWERS:TAKE292
ACROSS

31Low, 32 Aged, 33 Days

19 Even Now, 20+23A
Beady Eye, 21Loco,

11Started A Joke, 9 Boxer, ANSWERSDOWN 28 Vig,29 Red,30 BAD
10 Don’t Speak, 11 Urban 2Sexy Boy, 3+16D A Grand

Hymns, 13Snap! Don’tComeForFree, HIDDENANSWER

14 Why? 15 DrFeelgood, 4Today,5 Don, 6+22D Just “DoctorRobert”

18 Eleanor Rigby, Say Yes, 7 Klein, 8Skip,

21La’s, 24 Cure, 25 Halo, 9 Blue Weekend, 12No XWORDCOMPILEDBY:
26 Denim, 27 Everybody, Exit, 13 Snowy, 17 Dada, TrevorHungerford

UNCUT

NOVEMBER 2021

EDITOR Michael Bonner
EDITOR(ONE-SHOTS) John Robinson
ART EDITOR Marc Jones
REVIEWS EDITOR Tom Pinnock
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Sam Richards
SENIOR DESIGNER Michael Chapman
PRODUCTIONEDITOR Mick Meikleham
SENIOR SUBEDITOR Mike Johnson
PICTURE EDITOR Phil King
EDITOR ATLARGE Allan Jones
CONTRIBUTORS Jason Anderson, Laura
Barton, Mark Bentley, Greg Cochrane,
Leonie Cooper, Jon Dale, Stephen Dalton,
Stephen Deusner, Lisa-Marie Ferla,
Michael Hann, Nick Hasted, Rob Hughes,
Trevor Hungerford, John Lewis, April
Long, Alastair McKay, Gavin Martin, Piers
Martin, Rob Mitchum, Paul Moody,
Andrew Mueller, Sharon O'Connell,
Michael Odell, Erin Osmon, Pete
Paphides, Louis Pattison, Jonathan
Romney, Bud Scoppa, Johnny Sharp, Dave
Simpson, Neil Spencer, Terry Staunton,
Graeme Thomson, Luke Torn, Stephen
Troussé, Jaan Uhelszki, Wyndham
Wallace, Peter Watts, Richard Williams,
Nigel Williamson, Tyler Wilcox,

Jim Wirth, Damon Wise, Rob Young
COVERPHOTOGRAPHS:

Gered Mankowitz O Bowstir Ltd 2021/
Mankowitz.com (The Rolling Stones);
John Stoddart/Popperfoto via Getty
Images (Charlie Watts/subscribers' cover)
THANKS TO: Johnny Sharp, Lora Findlay

TEXT AND COVERS PRINTED BY
Gibbons UK Ltd

PRODUCTION & OPERATIONS

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DISTRIBUTED BY Marketforce (UK) Ltd,
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Allcontent copyright BandLab UK Limited 2021,
all rights reserved. While we make every effort to
ensure that the factual content of UNCUT
Magazine is correct, we cannot take any
responsibility nor be held accountable for any
factual errors printed. No part of this publication
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copyrights contained within this issue. Where
possible, we acknowledge the copyright.

NOVEMBER 2021 - UNCUT 113

PHOTO: AMANDAHUGENQUIST. INTERVIEW: SAMRICHARDS

My Life In Music

GEORGE HELM

The Music Of George Helm-
A True Hawaiian coLpcom 1977

My mum is Hawaiian. She was a famous hula
dancer and made Hawaiian music with my
uncles when she was younger. I grew up around
that to some degree, even though I was in New
Zealand as akid. This is one of many Hawaiian
music albums I really love. It's a beautiful example of the raw, authentic
style of this era. The guitar evokes the warm wind and the beach, while

the soaring Hawaiian falsetto voice evokes the passion and pain of the
Hawaiian experience. Nothing like it. I think about moving there a lot, but
Tm not sure! could handle the chill pace. One day, maybe.

BUZZCOCKS
Singles Going Steady
UNITED ARTISTS, 1979

I think people associate my songwriting with
Stevie Wonder а lot, which is cool, but for me
itall began with wanting to write a song like

the Buzzcocks. I still to this day advise people
tolook at the Buzzcocks if they ask about
songwriting. Their songs are flawless and have everything I want from pop.
Energy, pathos, they just crackle with pain and life. A song should always
say, “Life is full of pain but we're not going to just lay down and suffer, we're
going to fight right to the last breath.” That’s what the Buzzcocks, and music
in general, are to me.

BILLY COBHAM

TotalEclipse
ATLANTIC, 1974

I grew up around а lot of jazz because my
parents were into stuff like that. There was a
giant cardboard box full of cassette tapes, and
in our teens my brother and I went through
itall looking for things we liked. I realise now
it was a treasure trove. Total Eclipse was one of those tapes, and I’ve been
revisiting it recently. It's a very heavy fusion record and Billy Cobhamisa
drummer on the top level of technicality. I just like how much ofa journey
ittakes you on. As a kid, I'd listen to it and fall asleep and it'd give me crazy
dreams. An emotional rollercoaster.

Uncle Meat
BIZARRERECORDS, 1969

3 I discovered this album asa teenager and

A haven't known many other Zappa fans, so it's
always felt like my own private influence. I

„ stilllikethat so many people hate Zappa. Uncle
Meatis interesting for how eclectic it is — it jumps around like a magazine,
changing its perspective, with a lot of skits and random interludes. I
suppose it takes the free and loose nature of a record like the ‘White Album’
toitslogical conclusion. A great record to do something creative to, like
painting or something.

Ruban Nielson

The Unknown Mortal Orchestra maestro on the music
that stalks his subconscious: “Itd give me crazy dreams”

SPLIT ENZ

MentalNotes
WHITECLOUD, 1975

Split Enz are a huge touchstone in New
Zealand music history, although maybe they
are underrated everywhere else. I grew up
around the hits and stuff, but I discovered the

А first album when I went to Elam Art School in
Auckland - I heard Split Enz used to perform there during this era. To me it
sounds very English glam and prog, but also a little bit weirder than all that
too. I think “Titus” has always been my favourite song from this record. It's
one of the strangest, and has both vocalists contrasted.

A TRIBE CALLED QUEST

Beats, Rhymes And Life
JIVE, 1996

This album just hasso much soul. It’s in the
subject matter butit’s a sonic element too.
There's a mellowness to the mix, and yet the
drums and vocals are loud and central. The

: album nameis like the mission statement and
could still work so el asaguiding principlein a rap record today. There's
a feeling of everyday life in this record that makes it feel casual and
cinematic at the same time. It's also a masterclass in drum sounds - the
kicks, the hi-hats and the snares are really wonderful.

i TH' DUDES
! Where Are The Boys ktv,1980

Tm a big fan ofthe whole New Zealand pub-rock
era. There'sa certain way that guitars chime

in New Zealand that just doesn't exist in other
music. My dad was a horn player, a hired gun
who played everything from jazz to reggae to
rock, and this music brings to mind the smell

of going to soundcheck with him іп the ’8os. The stale smell of beer and
cigarettes and the sticky crimson carpets; light coming through the window
inaroom that’s never full in the daytime hours. “Bliss” is just a New Zealand
classic song. It was probably in three massive TV ads in my childhood. It
might have been in movies too — it’s so ubiquitous it’s hard to remember.

* GALCOSTA
& CAETANO VELOSO

Domingo uius, 1967

t

I believe this is Caetano's debut and is just
a perfect album. The whole record is so

JS ЕТІПТІ sophisticated and calms the nerves like magic.
XE Ж ~~ One of those records that you can play almost
sone: і anywhere and lift your mood. Acoustic guitar,
gently reverbed masculine and feminine voices, some piano, woodwind,
strings, soft but perfectly played percussion. I remember I wasin Amsterdam
a few years ago and had bought microdots. I put this album on as I came up

because I wasn’t sure if the acid was going to be too strong and wanted the
calming sound of this album in my hotel room to keep me feeling just right. ®

Unknown Mortal Orchestra's new single "That Life” is out now on Jagjaguwar

114-UNCUT - NOVEMBER 2021

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